[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO, TENN.
Oct. 11 TEXAS: The fight to save Rodney Reed from execution in Texas In 1998, Rodney Reed, who is African-American, was sentenced to death by an all-white jury in Bastrop, Texas, for the rape and murder of Stacey Stites, a 19-year-old white woman. He's scheduled to be executed on Nov. 20. Reed, now 53, maintains his innocence. The only evidence used to convict him was DNA that Reed says was present because he and Stites were having a secret affair — a claim Stites's cousin corroborates. Reed's defense attorneys believe that further DNA tests of the crime scene could prove his innocence, but their requests have been denied, leading them to file a lawsuit in federal court. They also recently petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the execution, citing "new and comprehensive evidence for innocence." Among the new pieces of evidence Reed's lawyers cite are statements from two witnesses who claim they have information that links Stites's then-fiancé, Jimmy Fennell, to the crime. Fennell, a former police officer in Giddings, Texas, was recently released from prison after serving 10 years for the kidnapping and assault of a woman. There were critical inconsistencies in Fennell's accounts of where he was and what he was doing the night of the murder. One of the new witnesses who's come forward is a life insurance salesperson who said that while Fennell was applying for a policy he threatened to kill Stites if she ever cheated on him. The other witness, a sheriff's deputy in Texas's Lee County, said he overheard Fennell say to Stites' body at her funeral, "You got what you deserved." In addition, forensic experts who implicated Reed at trial have recanted, while forensic pathologists have said the prosecution's theory of Reed's guilt is medically and scientifically impossible. That Reed is still on death row despite all the evidence casting doubt on his guilt is indicative of the larger issues around the death penalty — particularly as it pertains to race. In the U.S., race is the single greatest predictor of who gets the death penalty, not the severity of the crime. Even though whites account for just 55 % of murder victims nationwide, they account for 80 percent of murder victims in cases resulting in an execution. Those convicted of killing white victims are three times more likely to be sentenced to death than those convicted of killing non-white victims. The disparities in who is executed are especially stark in Texas, which has the nation's third-largest death row population and accounted for more than 1/2 of all the executions in the U.S. last year. Of the states with more than 10 people currently facing execution, Texas has the highest number of minorities on death row. While African Americans make up only 12.6 % of Texas's population, 43.9 % of its death row inmates are Black. These statistics are particularly alarming when one considers that 166 people have been exonerated from death row. Of these, nearly 1/2 are Black, and nearly 50 are Black men from the South. Reed's family has organized a grassroots effort called the Reed Justice Initiative that is working to save Reed's life while also supporting families who are dealing with similar situations. Reed's cause also has help from the nationally recognized anti-death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean and the Innocence Project, which has launched a petition seeking to halt his execution. "The evidence supporting Reed's innocence is uncontradicted and undeniable, and without the Supreme Court's intervention, I fear the State of Texas may execute an innocent man," said Bryce Benjet, Reed's lawyer and senior staff attorney at the Innocence Project. (source: Facing South) ** New Podcast: Texas Lawyer James Rytting on Junk Science and the Execution of Larry Swearingen In the latest episode of Discussions with DPIC, Texas capital defense lawyer James Rytting discusses the case of his client, Larry Swearingen, and the junk science that led to the execution of a man legitimate science strongly suggests was innocent. Rytting describes the false forensic analysis presented under the guise of science in Swearingen’s case, the appellate process that makes it “almost impossible” to obtain review of new evidence, and the persistent problem of wrongful convictions. Larry Swearingen was executed on August 21, 2019 after multiple courts declined to review evidence supporting his innocence claim. In the interview, Rytting explains the problems with the prosecution’s “smoking gun,” a piece of pantyhose used to strangle the victim, Melissa Trotter. The prosecution told the jury that a matching piece of pantyhose had been found in Swearingen’s home. In reality, that supposedly matching piece of the pantyhose had not been discovered in 2 initial searches of Swearingen’s house. It was only “found” in a 3rd search of the residence after Trotter’s body was
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO, UTAH, WYO.
July 25 TEXAS: Prosecutors to seek death penalty against accused serial killer of elderly peopleBilly Chemirmir is linked to the deaths of 19 people, according to criminal court records and civil lawsuits. Dallas County prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for a 46-year-old man charged with 12 murders of elderly women and linked to 7 other deaths of elderly people. Billy Chemirmir, 46, is charged with 7 counts of capital murder in Dallas County and 5 counts of capital murder in Collin County, where he also faces 2 counts of attempted capital murder. Chemirmir is also accused of killing 7 other elderly people, according to lawsuits filed against an upscale senior living center. The lawsuits allege Chemirmir posed as a maintenance worker at The Tradition-Prestonwood, where he killed and robbed 8 elderly women and one elderly man. The suits say the senior living center failed to provide adequate security and hid Chemirmir's connection to the string of deaths. In each death, excluding the death of 89-year-old Solomon Spring, the elderly women were found smothered in their homes. In most of the cases, the deaths were initially deemed natural. Chemirmir was arrested March 21, 2018, on a murder charge in the smothering death of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris. After his arrest, Chemirmir was also charged in Collin County with 2 counts of attempted capital murder in an attack of a 92-year-old woman the day before Harris was killed and the attack of a 93-year-old woman in October 2017. Chemirmir has been indicted in the deaths of: Phyllis Payne, 91, on May 14, 2016 Phoebe Perry, 94, on June 5, 2016 Norma French, 85, on Oct. 8, 2016 Doris Gleason, 92, on Oct. 29, 2016 Minnie Campbell, 83, on Oct. 31, 2017 Carolyn MacPhee, 81, on Dec. 31, 2017 Rosemary Curtis, 76, on Jan. 17, 2018 Mary Brooks on Jan. 31, 2018 Martha Williams, 80, on March 4, 2018 Miriam Nelson, 81, on March 9, 2018 Ann Conklin, 82, on March 18, 2018 Lu Thi Harris, 81, on March 20, 2018 He is linked through lawsuits to the deaths of: Joyce Abramowitz, 82, on July 20, 2016 Juanita Purdy, 83, on July 31, 2016 Leah Corken, 83, on Aug. 19, 2016 Margaret White, 87, on Aug. 28, 2016 Solomon Spring, 89, on Oct. 2, 2016 Glenna Day, 87, on Oct. 15, 2016 Doris Wasserman, 90, on Dec. 23, 2017 (source: WFAA news) FLORIDA: Here’s Why Juries in Death Penalty Trials Might Not Be So Fair, Impartial After All You have the right to a fair trial by a jury of your peers, but researchers argue your “peers” typically end up being mostly white. Alisa Smith, Chair of the Department of Legal Studies at UCF, told Spectrum News that findings from the University of California in recent decades show African Americans are more likely to be disproportionately excluded from death penalty trials. “You can’t exclude a juror based upon race, but you can exclude a juror based upon a belief or a perception that they can’t be fair and impartial,” Smith explained. The findings show that as African Americans become more anti-death penalty, the likelihood of them being excluded in these trials as a juror increase. The research is reflected in the triple-murder trial of Central Florida man Grant Amato, who is accused of killing his parents and brother. 10 people out of the 12 person jury are white, and the alternates are 3 white men. The point of death qualification is to identify jurors who can be fair and impartial in deciding the ultimate punishment. But Smith says it doesn’t always work that way. “That question alone tends to bias a jury toward a group of individuals who are more likely to impose the death penalty,” she explained. While there is no cookie-cutter solution, Smith argues that a potential solution is to have 2 separate juries — 1 for the trial and 1 for the penalty phase. (source: baynews9.com) ALABAMA: Judge will decide Thursday if Lionel Francis should get death penalty for killing young daughter A Madison County Circuit Judge will decide Thursday if Lionel Francis will get the death penalty for killing his 20-month-old daughter. Francis, 37, was convicted in May of capital murder in the death of Alexandria Francis. The child was shot in May 2016 at the family’s home on Lockwood Court. Francis didn’t testify at this trial, but he told police the shooting was an accident. The prosecution’s case included testimony from a state medical examiner who said the nature of the child’s wound indicated the gun was pressed tightly to her forehead before he pulled the trigger. The child’s mother, Ashley Ross testified she was changing her clothes, with her back to Francis and her daughter when she heard the shot fired. Ross’s testimony shook the courtroom at Francis’ trial, as prosecutors played her anguished 911 call pleading for medical attention. The jury also heard her one phone conversation with Francis’ where she angrily dismissed his
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO
December 1 TEXASimpending execution Clemency denied for 'Texas 7' prisoner scheduled for execution A day after suing the Board of Pardons and Paroles, Texas death row prisoner Joseph Garcia lost his long-shot bid for clemency when the 7-member board denied him a favorable recommendation to the governor. He is currently scheduled for execution Tuesday in Huntsville. The 47-year-old was sentenced to die nearly 2 decades ago for his role in the state's biggest prison break, a carefully plotted scheme followed by a crime spree and the slaying of a suburban Dallas police officer. Even though the 7-member parole board unanimously rebuffed his request for a lenient recommendation, Garcia has a number of other claims pending in the courts as well as a request for reprieve in front of the governor. "We are obviously disappointed," said defense lawyer Mridula Raman. "Justice could be served by having Joseph spend the rest of his life in prison. It is unfortunate that the board puts politics over fairness and mercy." In December 2000, Garcia was serving time for a Bexar County slaying when he teamed up with 6 fellow prisoners to break out of a maximum-security prison south of San Antonio. Fleeing canines and helicopters, the men drove to Houston where they pulled off 2 store robberies to stock up on supplies and money before heading north toward Dallas. There, on Christmas Eve, the crew of escapees robbed an Oshman's sporting goods - and on their way out, killed Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins. The men drove through a blizzard and headed to Colorado, where they were caught a month later posing as Christian missionaries and living in a trailer park. Though 5 gunmen fired shots and 1 of them - ringleader George Rivas - confessed to shooting the cop, Garcia has long maintained he never opened fire. Still, he was found guilty and sentenced to die under the law of parties, a controversial statute that can hold non-shooters as responsible as triggermen. Challenging the use of that statute has become the center of one of Garcia's last-ditch legal battles. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled against him in that appeal on Friday, but in a 17-page dissent Judge Elsa Alcala wrote that "evolving standards of decency" might mean it's no longer permissible to execute someone who never intended to kill, and that it might not serve a penological purpose. Late Friday, Garcia's attorneys appealed up to the U.S. Supreme Court. The same day, his legal team filed a federal lawsuit over the state's lethal injection supplier. Echoing a letter sent to the governor earlier in the week, the suit focuses on concerns stemming from a BuzzFeed News report on Wednesday that identified the Houston compounding pharmacy believed to be 1 of 2 responsible for making up the batches of pentobarbital used in the Huntsville death chamber. Since the Braeswood-area business had a track record of safety violations documented by the state, Garcia's attorney's asked the federal court to ban the state from using drugs compounded there or to simply call off Garcia's execution. In addition to the new filings on Friday, Garcia has an appeal challenging the Bexar County conviction that originally put him behind bars; a lawsuit alleging the state's parole board has too many ex-law enforcement members; and a request for reprieve in front of the governor. (source: Houston Chronicle) ** State-Sanctioned Secrecy Shields Texas’ Death Penalty Machine from ScrutinyNew revelations about the source of Texas’ execution drugs underscore the risks of capital punishment shrouded in secrecy. Shortly before he died by lethal injection earlier this year, Anthony Shore, Houston’s infamous “tourniquet killer,” exclaimed that he felt a burning sensation. Later that month, condemned killer William Rayford reportedly grimaced and writhed on the gurney during his final moments. Chris Young, executed this summer over the objections of his victim’s surviving son, was one of several death row inmates who said he could feel the drugs burning in his throat before he died. On Wednesday, Buzzfeed News reported that Texas buys execution drugs from Greenpark Compounding Pharmacy in Houston, which state health officials have repeatedly cited for dangerous practices in recent years, including for giving kids the wrong medicine and forging quality control documents. After the Buzzfeed report, lawyers for Joseph Garcia — set to die Tuesday for his role in a deadly 1999 prison escape — urged Governor Greg Abbott to give Garcia a 30-day reprieve, saying the revelation raises questions about the quality of Texas’ death drugs. Killing Garcia next week, his attorneys argue, subjects him to the “unreasonable risk of a cruel execution." Secrecy has always been a part of the American death penalty machine. Executioners donned hoods when the condemned were hanged in the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO, TENN.
July 20 TEXAS: In Houston death penalty cases, many judges carry a 'rubber stamp,' lawyers find Harris County judges routinely "rubber stamp' the prosecution's proposed version of events at a key point of death penalty appeals, pushing condemned prisoners closer to execution with little regard for defense claims, a new study finds. Some legal experts say the study reveals a "rigged" system where the state is effectively ghostwriting appeals decisions that judges sign off on, often without allowing hearings and sometimes within just a few days. "This is the heart of the reason the Texas death penalty system is so broken," said Robert Dunham of the Death Penalty Information Center. The year-long study of roughly 200 proceedings was first published in a federal appeal filed earlier this year by defense lawyer Jim Marcus. It says that in the vast majority of death penalty cases - more than 9 times out of every 10 - judges are simply accepting prosecutors' arguments, sometimes adopting their language, spelling errors and all. But judges and prosecutors rebuffed the study's claims, pointing out that if courts are consistently siding with the state, it doesn't mean they're wrong. These are, after all, men and woman already tried and convicted in front of a jury. Each case is unique, they emphasize, and while defense lawyers are supposed to be zealous advocates for their clients, prosecutors are supposed to be neutral defenders of justice. Among the skeptics: Judge Elsa Alcala, a former Harris County jurist now known as the most outspoken death penalty critic on the state's Court of Criminal Appeals. "I'm not totally convinced that because you have some percentage that says something that that really tells you a lot," Alcala said. "We're judges because we're required to use our judgment." Yet the vast majority of the time, that means agreeing only with the state. 'State's proposed findings' After a jury doles out a death sentence, the years-long "post-conviction" appeals process delves into a "finding of facts." Each side gets to lay out their version of what's happened and present new evidence that could merit a new trial - or at least a hearing to figure out whether that's necessary. The proposed findings might be a dozen pages or a hundred, and the attached exhibits can occasionally be far more voluminous than that. Once they're submitted, the judge reviews each set, a process that can require sifting through stacks of trial transcripts and years of court or medical records. Jurists might write their own set of findings, or they might pick and choose pieces from each. But, according to the law review analysis, Harris County judges typically sign off verbatim on what the prosecution submits, sometimes in just a day or 2 and sometimes without bothering to correct repeated spelling errors, duplications, typos or change the title - "state's proposed findings" - at the top. Those sorts of errors, defense lawyers say, suggest that the judges aren't reading the paperwork in front of them. The findings are just one step of a lengthy appeals process, but it's a critical one because later on down the road, judges defer to those findings and technical rules give them a lot of weight. Unfavorable findings can torpedo a defendant's odds of success in federal appeals. That's why some said the data might go a long way toward explaining how the Lone Star State - and Harris County in particular - became ground zero for capital punishment. "Texas executes death-row prisoners at more than 3 times the rate of the nation as a whole," Dunham said. "But that doesn't mean the system works." Instead, he said, it might mean that death row prisoners aren't getting hearings or "meaningful review" of their appeals, making it easier to push through executions despite claims of innocence or intellectual disability. Local defense lawyer Randy Schaffer accused "lazy" judges of not reading the paperwork in front of them, while attorney Pat McCann described the phenomenon of "rubber stamping" as "so common it's become a joke" among defense lawyers. The Chronicle attempted to contact all of the 47 jurists whose decisions were referenced in the study. Of those who were still alive and reachable, most did not respond or declined to comment. A few - such as Alcala - offered detailed explanations. "I don't think there's anything per se wrong with it," she said, "if it is in fact what the judge believes." One-sided numbers The decision to review roughly 200 sets of findings all stemmed from 1 case: that of death row inmate Tony Medina. The 43-year-old former gang member has long proclaimed his innocence in the 1996 Harris County drive-by that sent him to death row. His case includes a number of troubling claims, including witness coercion, withheld evidence and bad lawyering on the part of a famously overworked trial attorney who never won a
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO, TENN., ARK., UTAH, ARIZ., NEV.
July 12
TEXASimpending execution
Death Watch: Faith in ExecutionsReligious beliefs barred a potential juror
from Christopher Young's trial. Did that cause his sentencing?
Possible religious discrimination might grant a Texas death row inmate another
trial. Christopher Young filed an application for relief with the Texas Court
of Criminal Appeals on July 2, arguing that the discrimination against a
potential juror, based on her church affiliation, tainted his original trial.
Young was 21 when he shot and killed Hasmukh Patel during an attempted robbery
of a gas station. Before his trial, a woman was struck from the jury based
"solely" on her affiliation with a Baptist church where "some members"
ministered to prisoners, because the prosecution believed this could imply that
she favored the defendant. Today, Young's counsel claims the potential juror's
personal beliefs were never questioned, which was allowed under Casarez v.
State, where the CCA held that peremptory challenges made on the basis of a
potential juror's religious affiliation do not violate the 14th Amendment's
Equal Protection Clause.
The latest appeal, however, was granted in light of 2011's Devoe v. State, when
the CCA ruled that Casarez should be read as only "challenges made on the basis
of personal religious belief are permissible." Young's lawyer Jeff Newberry
said "the whole case hinges on the 2011 decision being the new law." The
Alliance Defending Freedom, a public interest organization that protects First
Amendment rights, along with a group of 23 "Faith Leaders," have filed amicus
briefs in support of Young's request for a new trial. According to one, if the
court upholds its original decision, it will "essentially create a rule that
says it is permissible for the citizens of Texas to be discriminated against in
the courtroom for freely exercising their right to affiliate with a particular
church."
Young's attorneys also filed a clemency petition with the Texas Board of
Pardons and Paroles on June 25, referencing Thomas Whitaker, who received
clemency in February ("Justice for Whom?" Feb. 16). That outcome has inspired
more Texas lawyers to seek clemency for their death row clients, but Newberry
believes the similarities between his client's case and Whitaker's set Young's
apart. As Whitaker's father asked the state to spare his son's life, Patel's
son Mitesh has asked the state to spare Young's.
The petition states Mitesh told Young's counsel that "boys who lose their
fathers traumatically have a 50-50 shot of being successful despite that
trauma. Mitesh was; Chris was not." (Young was a child when his own father was
murdered.) Now, Mitesh wants Young's sentence commuted so that Young can be a
"father to his daughters." The petition asks the board to focus on the
"important facts." Aside from Mitesh's plea, it states Young "is truly
remorseful," and that his life has "positive value, both as a father and as a
former gang member who can counsel other inmates." Newberry expects the board
to vote on Young's case on Friday, July 13.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied Young's last appeal in January. If rulings
continue in the state's favor, Young will be executed on Tuesday, July 17.
Already, Texas has executed 7 inmates this year, with another 6 scheduled
before November.
(source: Austin Chronicle)
FLORIDA:
Man, 66, could still face death penalty if convicted in cold case
murderJames Leon Jackson charged in 1984 rape and murder of 10-year-old
Tammy Welch
Despite his age and infirmity, a 66-year-old man could still face the death
penalty in the cold case murder of a 10-year-old girl -- if he is convicted.
James Leon Jackson is charged in the 1984 rape and murder of Tammy Welch.
Jackson was considered a suspect all along but wasn't charged until 2013.
In 2016, Jackson's lawyers filed a motion to block the state attorney's office
from seeking the death penalty, per the U.S. Supreme Court's Hurst ruling.
At a hearing Tuesday, the judge denied that motion.
Other motions to preclude the death penalty are pending, and Jackson???s
lawyers now want a psychiatric evaluation done.
Jackson's trial is set for the end of the month.
(source: WJXT news)
*
After 20 years on death row, wrongly imprisoned man starts new life in Tampa
An Ohio man found not guilty after spending 20 years on death row is relocating
to Tampa through an organization that helps the recently exonerated rejoin
society.
When he was exonerated and released after 20 years in prison, he struggled to
rejoin society. Now, thanks to the Sunny Center, he will get the fresh start he
was dreaming of.
Derek Jamison's life was stolen at just 23-years-old. He was sentenced to death
for a murder he didn't commit.
"It was hell," Jamison said. "On earth."
Jamison was sentenced to death in 1985, charged with the robbery and murder of
a bartender at a restaurant in
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO, TENN., ILL.
June 1 TEXAS: 3rd East Texas inmate gets 2018 execution date An East Texas man has been given an execution date for 2018. After the United States Supreme Court denied his appeal, an East Texas judge signed off on an execution date for Daniel Acker, 46, of Sulphur Springs. Acker is scheduled to die by lethal injection on September 27. In 2001, Acker was sentenced to death for March 2000 murder of 32-year-old Marquetta George. In February 2000, Acker and George moved into a rented trailer home, shortly after they met. On the evening of Saturday, March 11, 2000, the pair went to a rode before heading to the nightclub, "bustin' Loose," according to documents presented in court. The couple got into an argument at the club and witnessess, who testified at Acker's trial, said he threatened to kill George that night. Documents state Acker was kicked out of the club, but returned several times looking for George. "Around 9:15 a.m. on March 12, Acker went to the home of George's mother, Lila Seawright, still searching for George," court documents state. "Seawright testified at trial that Acker told her that if he found out George had spent the night with another man, he was going to kill them. Seawright replied that no one was worth going to the penitentiary for murder. Seawright testified that Acker shrugged and replied, 'Pen life ain't nothing. Ain't nothing to it.'" Later that morning, after Acker returned to the trailer he shared with George, a bouncer, identified as Robert "calico" McKee, at "bustin' Loose," brought George to the trailer. McKee told Acker he had taken George to her father's house to spend the night. Acker testified in court he did not believe McKee was telling the truth because he drove by George's father's house the previous night when he was looking for her. According to Acker, George admitted she spent the night with Calico. Acker then asked George where Calico lived and she said she would show him, but instead, she ran out of the trailer. Neighbors testified George darted from the trailer, screaming for them to call law enforcement. Acker followed her, grabbed her, threw her over his shoulder, forced her into his truck and sped away. Sedill Ferrell, who owned a dairy farm in Hopkins County, found George's body and contacted the sheriff's office. Acker turned himself in to a law enforcement officer and was arrested. George's body was found less than 3 miles from the trailer where she lived with Acker. Acker was convicted of kidnapping, then murdering George. An autopsy revealed she died from strangulation and blunt force trauma. Acker is the 3rd East Texas inmate to be dealt an execution date for 2018. TROY CLARK On May 7, Troy James Clark, 50, of Smith County, received his execution date in the 7th District Court. The State of Texas will put Clark to death by lethal injection on September 26, the day before Acker. On May 1, 1998, Clark was condemned for the torture and drowning murder of his former roommate, Christina Muse, 20, of Tyler. According to evidence presented in court, Clark and a co-defendant, identified as Tory Gene Bush, hit Muse with stun gun, beat, bound and kept her in a closet before drowning her in a bathtub. Prosecutors said Clark and Bush then stuffed Muse's body into a barrel with cement mix and lime before dumping in a ravine. Her body was discovered 5 months later by Tyler police. According to the Associated Press, the motive behind the crime was Clark and Bush feared Muse would snitch on them for using and selling methamphetamine. Bush pleaded guilty to the charge of murder intentionally causing death on August 7, 2000, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In October 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States refused Clark's appeal claiming he had insufficient legal counsel during his 2000 trial in Smith County. Clark's prior convictions include: June 24, 1987 - Possession of a controlled substance - Cocaine (Released August 27, 1987 on parole) January 8, 1993 - Possession of a controlled substance X2 (Released February 23, 1996) According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Clifton Williams will be put to death on June 21, 2018, for the murder of Cecilia Schneider, of Tyler. On July 9, 2005, Williams, then 21, entered Schneider's home before stabbing, beating and strangling her to death. He then burned her body. Williams stole Schneider's purse and car and left the scene. Officials arrested Williams a week later. In 2006, he was found guilty in the court of former judge Cynthia Kent and sentenced to death. He was originally set to be executed on Thursday, July 16, 2015. However, he received an 11th hour stay of execution from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals until questions about some "incorrect testimony" at his 2006 trial could be resolved. In a brief order, the court agreed to return the case to the 114th District Court in Tyler to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO, KY., OKLA., CALIF., WASH.
March 28 TEXASexecution Lubbock group protests death penalty on night of Rodriguez's execution "God of compassion," read the vigil program. "You let rain fall on the just and the unjust. Expand and deepen our hearts so that we may love as you love, even those among us who have caused the greatest pain by taking life." The rain stopped just long enough for the Friends of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty group to hold signs with messages against execution in front of St. John's United Methodist Church Tuesday night on University Avenue as 38-year-old Rosendo Rodriguez was set to by executed in Huntsville. Minutes before he died, Rodriguez espoused the same message as the vigil group, calling for the end of the death penalty. Rodriguez was sentenced to death for the 2005 rape and killing of 29-year-old Summer Baldwin. He also admitted to killing 16-year-old Joanna Rogers. Both women were from Lubbock. The 4 solemn participants said they had different reasons for attending the vigil. Beth Pressley, organizer of the group, said they meet for prayer and sign holding from 5:45-6:15 p.m. each time there is an execution in Texas. Pressley wore a T-shirt that read "pro life," and said that is the message of the group. "We don't like the state killing people in our name. We don't think it's necessary," Pressley said. "There was a time that you maybe had to worry about violent criminals getting out (of prison), but that's not really the case anymore. People have the chance to repent." Pressley said because this was a local case, she has followed the crime since the beginning. "It was frightening. It was sad. I remember being very glad that they finally caught the guy and got him off the street," Pressley said. "But now we have 3 families who are hurting. Killing somebody isn't going to make those daughters come back." Participants prayed for peace for all involved people: the victims' families, Rodriguez's family, the court system, prison employees and all others on death row. Phoenix Lundstrom had a more personal connection with Rodriguez. During the prayer portion of the vigil, Lundstrom read a letter she recently received from Rodriguez that indicated faith was on his mind in his last few weeks. Lundstrom said her son Mitchell Wachholtz met Rodriguez around 10 years ago when they were in neighboring prison cells. Wachholtz is serving a 99-year sentence at the Darrington Unit in Rosharon. He was convicted of murder in the 2007 death of Chase Pendleton. Lundstrom said her son has found his calling in life, in part because of Rodriguez. "Rosendo started talking to my son about Jesus. Now my son is in his 3rd year of seminary school at Darrington," Lundstrom said. "Rosendo was one of the key people in bringing my son from a street-wise punk to a real man of God." The group dispersed around 6:20 p.m. Rodriguez was pronounced dead at 6:46 p.m. (source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal) * 'Suitcase killer' at execution: 'I'm ready to join my father' A San Antonio man who became known as the "suitcase killer" was executed Tuesday evening in Texas for the slaying of a 29-year-old Lubbock woman whose battered, naked body was stuffed into a new piece of luggage and tossed in the trash. Rosendo Rodriguez III had also confessed to killing a 16-year-old Lubbock girl and similarly disposing of her body in the trash in a suitcase. Asked by the warden if he had a final statement, Rodriguez spoke defiantly for 7 minutes and never apologized to relatives of his victims watching through a window. "The state may have my body but they never had my soul," Rodriguez said. He also urged people to boycott Texas businesses to pressure the state into ending the death penalty and reiterated issues raised in late appeals that were rejected by the courts. "I've fought the good fight, I have run the good race," he said. "Warden, I'm ready to join my father." Rodriguez, who turned 38 Monday, received a lethal dose of the powerful sedative pentobarbital, injected by Texas prison officials. 22 minutes later, at 6:46 p.m. CT, he was pronounced dead. The execution was the 4th this year in Texas and 7th nationally. The U.S. Supreme Court, less than 30 minutes before Rodriguez was taken to the death chamber, rejected an appeal to block his punishment. Rodriguez's lawyers told the justices lower courts improperly turned down appeals that focused on the medical examiner's testimony at Rodriguez's trial for the September 2005 slaying of Summer Baldwin. State lawyers said the high court appeal was improper, untimely and meritless, and "nothing more than a last-ditch effort," according to Texas Assistant Attorney General Tomee Heining. Workers at the Lubbock city landfill spotted a new suitcase in the trash, opened it and discovered the body of Baldwin, who was 10 weeks pregnant. Detectives used a barcode label sewn to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO, ARIZ., NEV., CALIF.
Nov. 16 TEXASnew death sentences Tracy gets death penalty for murder of Telford officer A Bowie County jury deliberated just over an hour Wednesday morning before sentencing Texas prison inmate Billy Joel Tracy to death. Tracy, 39, will face the ultimate punishment in the July 15, 2015, fatal beating of Barry Telford Unit Correctional Officer Timothy Davison. The jury had to consider 2 questions, or special issues, in arriving at Tracy's sentence: "Whether beyond a reasonable doubt there is a probability that the defendant would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society," and "whether taking into consideration all of the evidence, including the circumstances of the offense, the defendant's character and background and the personal moral culpability of the defendant, there is a sufficient mitigating circumstance or circumstances to warrant that a sentence of imprisonment without parole rather than a death sentence be imposed." The jury unanimously answered "yes" to question one and "no" to question 2. Each of the 9 men and 3 women on Tracy's jury was polled after 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart read the jury's answers. Lockhart pronounced the punishment of death after advising Tracy of his rights to appeal. A packed courtroom watched in silence, some of them with hands over their mouths, as Lockhart released the jury. Davison's brother and niece sat surrounded by Texas Department of Criminal Justice staff as the trial ended. "Justice has been a long time coming," Ken Davison said. Tracy attacked Timothy Davison as he opened the door to cell 66 and briefly turned his gaze. After knocking Davison to the floor, Tracy grabbed the officer's metal tray slot bar and wielded it like a hammer, striking Davison repeatedly in the head and face after he lost consciousness. Tracy took Davison's pepper spray before throwing him feet over head down the stairwell. As a group of Davison's fellow officers approached, Tracy fouled the air with the chemical agent and retreated to his cell. A member of the 5-man extraction team that entered the cell to remove Tracy was bitten. During the trial, Tracy's jury heard testimony concerning multiple acts of violence by Tracy and the offenses which earned him 2 life sentences and a 20-year term in 1998. The jury heard of planned and calculated attacks on officers at units of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice across the state. Defense experts and Tracy's defense team, Mac Cobb of Mount Pleasant and Jeff Harrelson of Texarkana, argued that Tracy suffers from a "broken brain" compounded by a horrible childhood and years in prison. "He didn't choose this kind of brain. Billy had bad nature and bad nurture," Harrelson said. The state argued that Tracy is an incorrigible person with a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder who will continue to murder and maim if the ultimate punishment is not imposed. "The state of Texas will never bring you a stronger case for the death penalty," argued Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards. Lead prosecutor Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp told the jury that someone will be sentenced to death at the end of Tracy's trial. "Will it be another correctional officer with TDCJ, or will it be Billy Joel Tracy?" Crisp asked. "You decide." (source: Texarkana Gazette) ** Tennessee Colony man sentenced to death in case where 6 killed Tennessee Colony resident William Mitchell Hudson has been sentenced to death for killing 6 family members in one night in November 2015. Jurors deliberated for about 45 minutes before delivering the punishment verdict on the 2-year anniversary of Hudson's arrest; District Judge Mark Calhoon sentenced the 35-year-old man. Hudson was indicted on 3 counts of capital murder in connection with the slaying of six members of the Johnson and Kamp families on the night of Nov. 14, 2015: Thomas Kamp, 45; Nathan Kamp, 23; Austin Kamp, 21; Kade Johnson, 6; Carl Johnson, 77; and Hannah Johnson, 40. According to testimony over the trial's 11 days, the families gathered in Anderson County that weekend to celebrate the upcoming 24th birthday of Nathan Kamp, on land Thomas Kamp had recently purchased from a distant relative of Hudson's. Carl and Cynthia - the sole survivor of that night - arrived 1st, in an RV the retired couple used to travel around the country. Using a lock Tom had given them, the couple cut a lock on the gate, gaining entrance to the land Tom had recently puchased. Shortly after arriving on the land, the RV got stuck in the sandy ground near their campsite. The sound of Cynthia yelling at Carl as he tried to work the RV out of the ground made its way over to Crystal Hudson's home, where William had been staying. Friends of the Hudson family testified that they had owned the land since the 1800s, and that William had wanted to buy the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO
Nov. 14 TEXAS: Cardenas Execution Raising Questions About Treatment of Mexican Nationals In U.S. Prisons The Cardenas execution in Huntsville is raising questions about the treatment of Mexican Nationals in American prisons. News Center 23 had a chance to speak to the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs moments before and after the execution of Ruben Ramirez Cardenas. "Ruben if you can hear us, we are here for you" yell protesters outside the in the rain. Those may have been some of the last sounds heard by Ruben Ramirez Cardenas, a Mexican National, convicted of killing and Raping his 16 year old cousin back in 1997. News Center 23 had the opportunity to bear witness to the execution. Friends, family, were not present to see the passing of their loved one. Instead 4 lone protestors battling 50-degree weather in the rain and Mexican dignitaries were hoping the execution was delayed fi not avoided. Among those protestors, Gloria Ruback a representative of the TX Death Penalty Abolition Movement. She claims that she has been attending and protesting executions since the 1980???s. She says, "we found out that they can hear us back there in the room where they execute them. So to give him a little support ... maybe a smile before he's murdered." The execution, once slated for 6 PM on November 8th had visitors tense. Appeals made by Cardenas' attorney and The Mexican Foreign Ministry to the Supreme Court were to decide Cardenas' fate. They appealed to have "the DNA evidence [that] can be properly evaluated." Those appeals were rejected, and Cardenas was pronounced dead at 10:26 that same night. Jason Clark, spokesperson Texas Department of Criminal Justice talked to press immediately after the execution. He says, "Ruben Cardenas was executed for the brutal murder of 16 year old Mayra Laguna in 1997. He was the 7th person to be executed in the state of Texas this year. He did make a written last state he did not make a verbal last statement." Ruben Cardenas' Attorney, Maurie Levin states, "I am convinced that we would not be standing here now if Texas had not violated its Vieanna Convention obligations preventing the Mexican consulate when he most needed its help." "Carrying out the execution would be the equivalent to the arbitrary depravation of life, and the United States would be in Violation of its obligations under International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, The ICCPR." States Alejandro Alday Legal Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mexico. Also in attendance, Susana Guerra coming from Guanajuato Mexico to wait for the execution's results. She proclaims, "We are deeply sorrowed after this result and by the execution of Ruben ... When it comes to the family, the mother, we will try our best to support her. She is sick and frail. But we will be there for whatever she needs." Mexico abolished the death penalty in 2005. Despite the execution, efforts are underway to prove Cardenas' innocence. (source: rgvproud.com) * Psychiatrist testifies convicted murderer Hudson has personality disorder A Brazos County jury heard from experts that William Hudson suffers from mixed personality disorder, alcoholism and narcissism. The defense rested Monday in the punishment phase of Hudson's murder trial. The jury will decide if he gets life in prison or the death penalty. Hudson was convicted last week for 2 of the 6 murders at a campground in East Texas. The victims ranged in age from 6 to nearly 77-years-old. The jury heard from psychiatrist David Self. He said Hudson can have his personality issues managed but he can't be cured. The defense also called Antoinette McGarrahan. She is a Forensic Psychologist. She told the jury she spent 14 hour with Hudson completing I.Q. and other tests. She believes he had average intelligence at one time but has fallen 10-15 points after repeated injury to his brain. On one test his intelligence score was 72. She talked about several cars accidents he was in including a roll over where he didn't have a seat belt on. She said damage to his frontal lobes can contribute to things including poor judgment, decision making, planning, aggression and lack of insight. The court also heard more about what serving life in Texas prisons can look like. Hudson's defense attorneys called Lane Herklotz to testify. He is a retired TDCJ employee who worked for the state prison system for more than 25 years. He described how inmates are classified when they are transferred into prison custody. Many of in the court were surprised to learn that, despite the fact Hudson is accused of murdering six people, that isn't taken into account when they classify him in the system. TDCJ has five levels, Herklotz told the court, capital murder inmates serving life usually have a roommate or on occasion live in a dormitory. He also speculated Hudson would be considered minimum to medium
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July 28 TEXASexecution S.A. man executed after Supreme Court rejects bid for stay A San Antonio man was executed Thursday night for killing a woman in 2004 after a last-minute request for a stay to the Supreme Court was rejected. TaiChin Preyor, 46, had been on death row for 13 years after a Bexar County jury convicted him of killing Jami Tackett, 24, in a drug-related attack. Preyor was pronounced dead at 9:22 p.m., about 20 minutes after a lethal dose of Pentobarbital was sent through the veins of both of his arms. In a brief final statement, Preyor said, "First and foremost, I'd like to say, 'Justice has never advanced by taking a human life,' by Coretta Scott King. Lastly, to my wife and to my kids, I love y'all forever and always. That's it." Neither Preyor's nor Tackett's relatives were present for the execution, just 4 journalists and some corrections officers. Preyor is the 5th inmate to be executed in Texas this year, and the 16th nationally, according to data provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Earlier Thursday, Cate Stetson, an attorney representing Preyor said via email that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied an appeal and stay for her client, just hours before he was to be executed. Preyor's lawyers had argued that his appeals should be reviewed more fairly because poor legal representation had tainted his case. After that bid was rejected, Stetson then filed a petition seeking a stay from the nation's highest court. That request to Justice Samuel Alito was denied some time after 8 p.m. On Feb. 26, 2004, Preyor said he went to Tackett's Southeast Side apartment to buy drugs and that he defended himself when attacked by Tackett and her friend, Jason Garza, 20. Preyor told police he "poked" Tackett with a knife to defend himself. Preyor was arrested in the parking lot of the Grove Park Apartments in the 2500 block of Goliad Road near Interstate 37 South after he returned to the scene to look for his car keys, according to court documents. He had been covered in Tackett's blood. Tackett, whose throat was slashed, was found when her neighbors heard her screams. Prosecutors told the Bexar County jury that heard the case that Tackett also suffered defensive wounds to her hand and forearm and had cuts on her face and abdomen. Defense attorneys argued that Preyor went to Tackett's house to buy drugs from her and that she and Garza attacked Preyor when he arrived, and intended to rob him. He told police that he pulled a knife and "poked" Tackett with the weapon in an attempt to defend himself. Witnesses testified during the trial that Tackett's throat and windpipe were severed, and that she bled to death in her apartment. Neighbors heard the screams, and Garza, who was wounded in the attack, managed to escape and call 911. Preyor left the scene. He was arrested when he returned to get his keys. (source: Houston Chronicle) ** Texas executes man who claimed his lawyers committed fraudTexas carried out its 5th execution of the year Thursday evening, putting to death TaiChin Preyor in the 2004 murder of a San Antonio woman. After more than 12 years on death row, a San Antonio man convicted in a fatal stabbing was executed Thursday night. It was Texas' 5th execution of the year. TaiChin Preyor, 46, had filed a flurry of appeals in the weeks leading up to his execution date, claiming his trial lawyer never looked into evidence of an abusive childhood and his previous appellate counsel - a disbarred attorney paired with a real estate and probate lawyer who relied on Wikipedia in her legal research - committed fraud on the court. But he lost all of the appeals, with the U.S. Supreme Court issuing a final ruling in the case more than 2 hours after his execution was originally set to begin. At 9:03 p.m., he was injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital in Texas' death chamber and pronounced dead 19 minutes later, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In his final words, he mentioned his love for his wife and kids and cited a Coretta Scott King quote, saying, "Justice has never advanced by taking a life," according to TDCJ. Preyor was accused of breaking into 20-year-old Jami Tackett's apartment in February 2004 and stabbing her to death. He was found at the scene by police covered in her blood. Preyor claimed the killing was done in self-defense after a drug deal gone bad, but the jury was unconvinced. He was convicted and sentenced to death in March 2005. No witnesses for Preyor or Tackett attended the execution, according to TDCJ spokesman Robert Hurst. During his latest appeals, Preyor's attorneys argued that his trial lawyer, Michael Gross, was inadequate because he didn't present evidence of a physically and sexually abusive childhood that could have swayed a jury to hand down the alternate sentence of life in prison. "[The
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Feb. 18 TEXAS: Faith leaders support death-row inmate's religious discrimination claim More than 500 faith leaders across the country have endorsed a statement calling for a new trial for a Texas death row inmate claiming religious discrimination in the selection of his jury. National faith leaders including Tony Campolo and Shane Claiborne of Red Letter Christians, author Brian McLaren and Baptist ethicist David Gushee issued a statement Feb. 16 supporting Christopher Anthony Young, a 33-year-old man from San Antonio, Texas, sentenced to death for killing a mini-mart and dry cleaners owner during an armed robbery in 2004. Among other things, Young argues that one prospective juror interviewed at his 2006 trial was dismissed because prosecutors believed her association with an outreach ministries program at her Baptist church might bias her against imposing the death penalty. "It is absolutely unacceptable to strike a juror based on her affiliation with her church," said Pastor Joel Hunter at Northland, A Church Distributed in Longwood, Fla., and a lead signatory. "As evangelical Christians, we firmly believe that people of all faiths and backgrounds should be able to participate as jurors." Prosecutors dismissed prospective juror Myrtlene Williams, 1 of 6 African Americans in the 60-member jury pool, because they believed her membership in Outreach Ministries at San Antonio's Calvary Baptist Church could cause her to be more sympathetic to the defendant, particularly in the punishment phase of trial. During questioning Williams said that while some members of the group visited jails and prisons in an effort to rehabilitate persons who are incarcerated, she did not personally work with prisoners. Another reason given for her dismissal was she had a daughter with a past conviction of a larceny-type offense in another state. The statement by faith leaders said her removal was wrong. "Membership in a particular church or association with a particular ministry is not a fair basis for preventing someone from carrying out her civic duty as a juror," they said. "Indeed, eliminating a particular juror based solely on her religious affiliation offends the Free Exercise Clause of the United States Constitution." Young, who is African American, also has argued that the state used Williams' religious affiliation and daughter's criminal history as a pretext to dismiss 5 of the 6 impaneled jurists who were black. The Fifth U.S. Court of Appeals denied Young's right to appeal his conviction in August. The U.S. Supreme Court will confer March 3 about whether to accept the case. The faith leaders said they do not all agree on the morality of capital punishment and are not stating an opinion about whether or not Young deserves to die. "We do believe, however, that the process by which he was sentenced to death was tainted by the decision of the government to strike a juror, not because of her personal beliefs, but solely because she was affiliated with a ministry that works to improve the lives of the poor, the elderly, and the incarcerated," they said. "Indeed, the government struck this juror even though she did not personally work with prisoners; she was removed, in short, because of her mere association with a church that pursued its mission of aiding the weak." Gushee, director of the Center for Theology and Public Life and Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University in Atlanta, currently serves as interim pastor at First Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga., a flagship congregation in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. 2 years ago Gushee and other individual CBF members campaigned unsuccessfully for clemency for Kelly Gissendaner, the 1st woman executed in Georgia in 70 years and a graduate of a prison theology program sponsored by a consortium including Mercer University???s McAfee School of Theology, 1 of the CBF's partner schools. Other Baptists signing on in support of a new trial for Young include Fisher Humphreys, a retired professor at Samford University???s Beeson Divinity School and member at Baptist Church of the Covenant in Birmingham, Ala.; Mikael Broadway, associate professor of theology and ethics at Shaw University Divinity School and associate minister at Mount Level Missionary Baptist Church in Durham, N.C.; Roger Olson, Foy Valentine Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics at Baylor University's George W. Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, Texas; and Frederick Haynes III, senior pastor at Friendship-West Baptist Church Dallas. (source: Baptist News) FLORIDAfemale death sentence overturned After 2 death row stints, mother of murdered 'Baby Lollipops' no longer faces execution Ana Maria Cardona, the Miami mother twice sentenced to execution for the torture and murder of her toddler son known as "Baby Lollipops," is no longer facing death row. Prosecutors on
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Jan. 6 TEXAS: Officials: Austin might be without local DNA lab for at least 2 years The Austin Police Department's troubled DNA lab could easily be closed until summer 2018 by the time city and county officials implement a new way to analyze locally DNA evidence collected from Austin crime scenes, an Austin advisory commission estimated Tuesday. Austin police Assistant Chief Troy Gay agreed the delay was possible, though he hoped a solution would be implemented sooner. The city's Public Safety Commission unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday urging the Austin City Council to find a temporary solution within 6 months. Since June, Austin police have been sending some of their DNA evidence to the Texas Department of Public Safety to be tested, and since December, they have also been sending some of it to Dallas County. Still, DNA evidence is not being tested as often as it comes in, Gay said. A backlog existed even before police closed the lab in June. The crisis at the police department's DNA lab reached a climax last month. On Dec. 12 DPS officials, who were re-training the Austin Police Department's 6 DNA analysts, told police they had lost confidence in four of the technicians and refused to continue working with them. 4 days later, Austin's interim Police Chief Brian Manley said the lab would not reopen as previously planned. All of the DNA lab's analysts are still being paid to do administrative work, Gay said. Now that the lab won't reopen, Scott Milne, a former official with the Arizona Department of Public Safety who was recently hired to be the Austin lab's new chief forensic officer, is currently on administrative leave. "We are looking at what the future is for those employees in our lab," Gay said. Austin police officials will now rely on outside experts to help them figure out what form a future DNA lab should take, Gay said. A few ideas that Austin and Travis County officials have floated include putting the lab under the supervision of the Travis County medical examiner's office or creating a government lab that works separately from any current branch of the criminal justice system. On Jan. 26, the Austin City Council will likely vote on whether to negotiate and execute a contract with a firm that can assess the situation and determine the best way forward. However, that firm???s report could take up to 6 months to complete, Gay said. Austin police have been discussing the issue with a few different firms, Gay said. Austin will not be issuing a request for proposals because only a few firms exist that offer the service the Austin Police Department is seeking, he said. "Then, there will be commissions and meetings and panels to discuss the findings, and there won't be a decision made for at least another year," Commissioner Kim Rossmo said, predicting how long it could take to implement the report's recommendations. Rossmo said the process could take until 2020, "unless the city and the police department see this as something of urgency." The police department shut down the DNA section of its forensic lab after a state audit was highly critical of some of the lab analysts' techniques. A Texas Forensic Science Commission report released over the summer concluded that one of the lab's DNA testing practices raised "concerns about the APD DNA lab's understanding of foundational issues in DNA analysis." Commissioners also asked Gay whether Austin police have opened an internal investigation regarding how the DNA lab got to this point. According to some estimates, retesting the evidence in cases that led to convictions could cost Travis County taxpayers $14 million. "We all know what has happened here has been a colossal management failure. ... There's lots of examples of labs having problems, but I don't think there's too many where the lab completely collapses," Rossmo said. "It's obvious there were some issues here that were incredibly significant in terms of the cost. If some patrol officer on the street gets into trouble, he'll be punished. Are you doing any sort of internal investigation as to who was just asleep at the wheel, costing the taxpayers probably millions of dollars?" Gay said officials plan to rely on the outside firm to help them conduct that investigation. "I don't disagree with you," Gay said. "We believe the look-back will help us identify where the challenges were and if there were mistakes made. If those mistakes were made and they were negligent, then we will attempt to hold those individuals accountable." (source: Austin American-Statesman) Texas sues feds over death penalty drug Texas is suing the federal Food and Drug Administration over a months-long delay in access to drugs the state uses in lethal injections. State Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) said Wednesday his office filed suit to gain access to hundreds of doses of thiopental sodium,
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Aug. 18 TEXASimpending execution Texas death sentence for accessory challenged by defense lawyer Texas is planning to execute a man next week for a murder he did not commit. If the sentence were to be carried out, it would mark the 1st time in the United States that an accessory with so little culpability to a murder was put to death, his lawyer said. Jeffery Wood, 42, is scheduled to be executed on Aug. 24 by lethal injection. He was convicted of taking part in a 1996 convenience store robbery during which clerk Kriss Keeran was fatally shot. Prosecutors and Wood's lawyers agree that he was in a vehicle outside the store when it was robbed. But prosecutors have said Wood knew the clerk might be shot and Wood's lawyers have refuted their argument. Wood's roommate at the time, Daniel Reneau, was convicted of pulling the trigger and executed on June 13, 2002. "I am not aware of a case where a person has been executed with so minimal culpability and with such little participation in the event," lawyer Jared Tyler said in an interview. "When people think of the death penalty, they think of the worst of the worst," Tyler said. "He was sitting in the truck outside a convenience store when somebody else of their own volition decided to kill somebody." Tyler said he has filed motions with the state to halt the execution, citing culpability, tainted testimony and mental competency issues. Ten people have been executed as accessories to felony murder since the United States reinstated the death penalty in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which monitors capital punishment. (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/those-executed-who-did-not-directly-kill-victim) Under Texas' "Law of Parties," a person can be charged with capital murder even if the offense is committed by someone else. "Each party to an offense may be charged and convicted without alleging that he acted as a principal or accomplice," according to the law. Texas has said that Wood is culpable because he knew the robbery was going to take place. After the killing, he entered the store with Reneau to steal the cash box, store safe and remove a video recorder used for security. (source: Reuters) State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, is hoping to stop the upcoming execution of Jeff Wood. It's not often that a staunch conservative loses sleep over imposition of the death penalty, but state Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, says he is up nights over the impending execution of Jeff Wood. The 2-term legislator has spent the past week poring over court documents and speaking with the governor's office and Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, hoping to prevent what would be the state's 7th execution of the year. Wood is set to die by lethal injection Aug. 24. "I simply do not believe that Mr. Wood is deserving of the death sentence," Leach told the Tribune. "I can't sit quietly by and not say anything." In the early morning of Jan. 2, 1996, Wood sat in a truck outside a Kerrville gas station while his friend, Daniel Reneau, went inside to steal a safe said to be full from the holiday weekend, according to court documents. When the clerk, Kriss Keeran, didn't comply or respond to threats, Reneau shot him dead. Reneau was sentenced to death and executed in 2002. Wood received his own death sentence under Texas' felony murder statute, commonly known as the law of parties, which holds that anyone involved in a crime resulting in death is equally responsible, even if they weren't directly involved in the actual killing. According to Nadia Mireles, Wood's then-girlfriend, Wood told Reneau to leave his gun at home the morning of the murder. She said Reneau put the gun down but picked it back up when Wood left the room. Her testimony was not included in Wood's trial, but it was in Reneau's. "This is the reason we have this final step by the Constitution to provide the governor the right to commute a sentence,"- State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano Prosecutors argued Wood knew Reneau would kill Keeran if he didn't cooperate with the robbery. If true, that would make him guilty of capital murder under the law of parties, which states that a person can be charged with a crime he didn't commit if he "should have anticipated it as a result" of another crime. Leach, who ranks among the most conservative Republicans in the House, is for the death penalty in the most heinous cases, he said. And he believes in the death penalty under the law of parties in cases where the accomplice was clearly involved in the murder. But when he came across Wood's case during his work for the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, it didn't seem right. "Jeffery Lee Wood's case has caught my attention unlike any death row inmate in my time in office has," he said. "Once I started digging, I couldn't stop." Now, Leach is trying to use his voice as a lawmaker to stop the execution
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO, USA
May 20 TEXAS: Nueces County prosecutors seek death penalty in store clerk shooting case Nueces County prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing a store clerk owner last year. James Elizalde, 23, faces a capital murder charge in the shooting death of store clerk Ignacio Rodriguez. Rodriguez, 50, was killed about 3 a.m. Oct. 4 at a convenience store in the 3600 block of Staples Street. Capital murder carries 2 punishment options: life in prison without parole or death by lethal injection. Elizalde was seen in surveillance footage fleeing the store with 2 other men after the shooting, according to an arrest affidavit. The other 2 have not been charged and were listed as witnesses in the affidavit. A grand jury also indicted Elizalde on an evading arrest charge from a 2014 incident, court officials said. Lawyers are slated to start picking a jury on Aug. 15 in 214th District Judge Jose Longoria's court. Elizalde remains in the Nueces County Jail in lieu of more than $1 million bail. (source: Corpus Christi Caller Times) FLORIDA: Dale Recinella makes a moral case to kill the death penalty I've been a supporter of the death penalty. When I thought about it at all. Which is to say, some crimes are so heinous that only one punishment seems sufficient. But to say this is to make a lot of assumptions. It's to assume, first off, that the person being put to death is actually guilty, which isn't always the case. And it's to assume the process by which they are sentenced to death is fair and unbiased. And it's pretty clear this isn't always the case, either. So there's the idea of the death penalty, and then there's the reality. Dale Recinella, a Macclenny attorney who has served for 20 years a volunteer chaplain and for 13 years as a lay chaplain for Florida's death row, says the reality is that in Florida and elsewhere, the death penalty is "a mess in every way, shape and form." "Everyone believes this myth that it's the worst of the worst who are executed," said Recinella, who will speak at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Stuart this Saturday night and Sunday morning. "It isn't; it's the people who couldn't afford lawyers." The process itself, he said, is inconsistent, arbitrary and racially biased - with 85 p% of all executions since 1976 taking place in "the old Confederacy and the slaveholding border states." "If you have 20 people who are charged with crimes that are almost identical, who will get the death penalty?" he asked rhetorically. "The poorest, the person of color and the guy with the worst lawyer." The U.S. Supreme Court agrees capital punishment in Florida is less than fair. The court ruled in January our death penalty is unconstitutional because it gives judges too much say in the process, and doesn't give jurors enough. Now the Florida Supreme Court is deciding whether the state's 390 death row inmates should have their sentences commuted to life in prison. The Legislature tried to come up with a fix, but earlier this month, a Miami judge struck that down. Capital punishment in Florida could be on a death watch. For Recinella, the end can't come too soon. Recinella was once a Wall Street finance lawyer who in the 1980s nearly died after eating a raw oyster and getting infected with the Vibrio vulnificus bacteria. He was literally on his deathbed when he saw the light, when he said Jesus came to him and challenged him to stop living such a self-centered life. "People ask, 'Did you get the music and light?' " Recinella said in a phone interview last week. "No, I got the lecture." When he awoke the following morning, "shocked that I was not dead," he and his wife, Susan, discussed where to go from there. They started volunteering at a Tallahassee food kitchen. That led to a stint working with street people who had AIDS. That, in turn, resulted in a request that he begin working with prisoners who had HIV and AIDS. In 1998, that led to death row. Recinella had once been pro-capital punishment; what he saw - chronicled in 2 books he's written on the subject - changed his mind. But what changed his heart was his faith and his belief in human dignity. "Even people who have committed great wrongs still retain human dignity, and their life is still valuable," he said. Dignity is in short supply on death row. Prisoners are confined in 6-by-9 cages in "these large boxes of steel and concrete sitting in the middle of nowhere between Gainesville and Jacksonville." There's no air conditioning, virtually no air movement at all. "People sometimes call (death row prisoners) 'animals' - but it would be unconscionable to keep a dog in these conditions. "Their crimes are horrible," he said. "But the question is, once we have these people secured in prison, are they animals - or are they human beings?" Recinella speaks all over the country, and says he's not interested in
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO, MO.
Nov. 4 TEXAS: Death warrant for Ward delivered Hunt County Sheriff Randy Meeks was scheduled Tuesday to deliver the death warrant for Adam Kelly Ward. Meeks traveled to the Texas Department of Corrections Tuesday, as the death warrant has to be hand delivered to the agency's director by the sheriff of the county in which the conviction occurred. The death warrant was signed Monday by 354th District Court Judge Richard Beacom. Ward is set to die by lethal injection on the evening of March 22, 2016. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 2007 for the 2005 death of Michael "Pee Wee" Walker, a City of Commerce Code Enforcement Officer. (source: Greenville Herald-Banner) ** Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present12 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982present-530 Abbott#scheduled execution date-nameTx. # 13-November 18--Raphael Holiday---531 14-January 20 (2016)-Richard Masterson532 15-January 27---James Freeman-533 16-February 16--Gustavo Garcia534 17-March 9--Coy Wesbrook--535 18-March 22-Adam Ward-536 (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) FLORIDA: Convicted Cop Killer Dies on Death Row A man convicted of killing a Tallahassee Police officer has died on death row. The Department of Corrections confirms that Clarence Jones died of what appears to be natural causes last week. He'd been on death row for 26 years. Jones was sentenced to death for ambushing Tallahassee Police Officer Ernie Ponce de Leon during a traffic stop back in 1988. David Ferrell worked with Ponce de Leon at TPD back then. "When Ernie got murdered that morning it just... personally made me realize how dangerous this job really is," Ferrell said. "Ernie and Greg responded to a suspicious persons call down on Lake Bradford Road. It was a standard, common call and the first thing you know, it turns into a running gun battle." Ferrell says Jones' death does not bring him any closure. He still misses his fellow officer and friend and continues to fasten Ponce de Leon's picture to his bike as a way to honor him during remembrance rides. A DOC spokesman says Jones died last Tuesday, October 27th. Both FDLE and the DOC's Inspector General are investigating, which the DOC says is standard protocol in any unattended deaths. (source: WCTV news) * Convicted murderer's lawyer appeals death sentence The case against a prison escapee found guilty of killing a Florida State University student and dumping his body in a field off State Road 16 will head to the Florida Supreme Court. In June 2014, a St. Johns County jury unanimously voted to recommend the death penalty for Kentrell Feronti Johnson, who was found guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping relating to the death of Vincent Binder, a 29-year-old FSU graduate student. But the judgment was appealed Tuesday by Johnson's lawyer, Michael Reiter, who said the Seventh Judicial Circuit "acted in bad faith" when the court failed to uphold an agreement between Johnson and the state attorney's office in Tallahassee. The Seventh Judicial Circuit serves Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns and Volusia counties. Tallahassee is in the Second Judicial Circuit, which covers Franklin, Liberty, Gadsden, Leon, Wakulla, and Jefferson counties. When Johnson was arrested in South Florida, he was interviewed by attorneys representing the Second Judicial Circuit who said they wouldn't pursue the death penalty if he helped him find the body, according to Reiter. "Johnson relied upon his bargain with the State of Florida not to pursue the death penalty if he helped locate the body of Vincent Binder. As a result of Florida's reneging on their agreement, Johnson's constitutional rights were violated," the appeal states. Reiter added, "No matter where the body was found, the death penalty was not an option (per the agreement)." He also said since Johnson had already been charged of the crimes in Tallahassee, there was no reason for St. Johns County to charge him as well. "There was no reason other than to avoid the agreement," he argued. But one state attorney's office can't bind another, Vivian Singleton, assistant state attorney for the Florida Attorney General's Office, argued. "Attorneys only have the power to prosecute in their circuit," Singleton said. "And the judge can't take sentencing guidelines away from a state attorney." And since there was no formal agreement, the Seventh Judicial Circuit has no way of knowing what the actual agreement was, she said. During the trial, Judge Raul Zambrano said he didn't have the authority to enforce the agreement, but Reiter pointed to Florida statutes that would allow it in some cases. "I believe he did have authority," he said. Johnson was not
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO, MO.
May 23 TEXASimpending execution U.S. court denies motion to halt execution of long-serving Texas inmate A federal appeals court has denied an application to halt the June execution of Lester Bower, one of the longest-serving inmates on death row in Texas, for killing 4 men at an airport hangar in 1983. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Thursday denied a petition from Bower's lawyers, who said his planned execution on June 3 should be halted on grounds that his previous sentencing did not match U.S. Supreme Court precedent. Bower, 67, who has been imprisoned for more than 30 years, is set to be executed by injection at the state's death chamber in Huntsville. His lawyers have tried for more than 2 decades to have his conviction thrown out, saying he was found guilty due to faulty witness testimony. Bower has denied being at the hangar where the murders took place but authorities said aircraft parts found in his home and other evidence implicated him in the crimes. In March, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal filed by lawyers for Bower, who argued that three decades on death row amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. According to Bower's court filings, he has faced imminent execution on 6 occasions during his time in prison. Bower was convicted of fatally shooting building contractor Bob Tate, former police officer Ronald Mayes, sheriff's deputy Philip Good and interior designer Jerry Brown, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said. Bower killed Tate to steal an ultralight airplane Tate was selling and then killed the other 3 when they unexpectedly showed up at the hangar, it said. (source: Reuters) * Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present7 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982present-525 Abbott#scheduled execution date-nameTx. # 8--June 3Les Bower526 9---June 18--Gregory Russeau--527 10-August 12Daniel Lopez--528 11-August 26Bernardo Tercero--529 12-October 6Juan Garcia---530 (sources: TDCJ Rick Halperin) FLORIDA: Jury Recommends Death Penalty in Barry Davis CaseThe jury in the Barry Davis case has recommended to the court that he face the death penalty. Davis was found guilty Monday on 2 counts of 1st degree murder in the deaths of John Gregory Hughes and Hiedi Rhodes in May 2012. The jury only deliberated for an hour Friday, but during the penalty phase, head injuries have been the topic of discussion the last 3 days. After an hour of deliberating, the jury in the Barry Davis case recommended to the court that he face the death penalty for the murders of John Gregory Hughes and Hiedi Rhodes. A Spencer Hearing, which is an opportunity for the defendant's lawyers to present additional evidence to the judge before a sentence is entered, will take place at a later date. 3 final witnesses testified Friday to wrap up the month-long trial of Barry Davis. For the last 3 days, traumatic brain injuries have been the topic of discussion. The defense brought in a number of witnesses both in the clinical psychology and neuropathology fields Thursday. They testified that head injuries Davis sustained as a child from activities like football could have impacted his judgment as an adult. 1 clinical psychologist, a witness for the state, says otherwise. He has no medical health treatment historically, no contact with psychologists or psychiatrists, no medications so for me that suggests there was not recognized as to any major mental health issues in his lifetime, said Dr. Greg Prichard. The Defense Attorney's witnesses also claimed the environment of where someone grows up, depression and anxiety, mixed with a brain injury can create a disturbed individual. Davis' sister testified Friday by phone and talked about the conditions of their father's home where she stayed one summer. My eyes were red, and drained, said Kieana Davis, as she described when she went to visit her father in California. And when we went back from visiting my father and we were sent back to my mom she was very upset, and our clothes were dirty and had not been washed. After his examination, Dr. Prichard stated Davis' act of killing John Gregory Hughes and Hiedi Rhodes was not due to a mental illness or any form of depression, but rather, The behaviors associated with the crimes reflect some characterlogical or personality issues, said Dr. Prichard. Davis could either receive life in prison without parole, or the death penalty. The jury is still discussing the fate of Davis. The judge however will make the final decision. (source: WJHG news) * Case of death row inmate in Atlantic Beach father and son's murders returns to Supreme Court It's
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO
Jan. 15 TEXASimpending execution Arnold Prieto Scheduled to Be 1st to Die in 2015 On Sunday afternoon, Sept. 12, 1993, Maria Luisa Rodriguez visited the San Antonio home of her parents-in-law Virginia and Rodolfo Rodriguez, only to discover they'd both been stabbed to death, along with the longtime nanny to the Rodriguez children, 90-year-old Paula Moran, who lived with the couple. For months, the police had no leads. But in March 1994, after receiving a series of anonymous tips, 2 San Antonio Police Department detectives traveled 4 1/2 hours up I-35 to the Dallas suburb of Carrollton, where they met with 2 local detectives, and took the great-nephew of the murdered couple, 16-year-old Jessie Hernandez, in for questioning, and shortly thereafter arrested his brother Guadalupe Hernandez and their mutual friend Arnold Prieto. After 4 hours of interrogations, Prieto, then 20, submitted a lengthy statement. In it, he provided background information about his relationship with the Hernandez brothers. Shortly after meeting Prieto in May 1993, the 2 introduced him to cocaine. By that August, Prieto had lost his job, and the 3 were meeting each night to snort cocaine and watch movies. It was starting to get out of hand, he wrote. He fell into financial trouble, losing track of payments on his rent, utilities, and car loan. Prieto would complain about his financial situation, and the 2 brothers would counter by talking about their rich uncle in San Antonio. Rodolfo Rodriguez, 72, ran a check-cashing business with his wife, 62, out of their home in San Antonio. The brothers would talk about a closet in the house that was filled with money. One day, after doing more cocaine, Guadalupe suggested that the 3 make a trip to San Antonio. They'd rob the Hernandez's relatives and head back to Carrollton, no problem. Prieto didn't remember what time they got to the couple's house, only that it was very dark. They walked up to the house; Virginia let them in. She offered them eggs, tortillas, and orange juice. In my mind, I thought nothing's going to happen and we will end up just staying the night, he wrote in his statement. He went into a bedroom with Jessie and Rodolfo; moments later, he heard Virginia scream. Prieto looked into the kitchen, he wrote, and saw Guadalupe stabbing his aunt repeatedly with a screwdriver. Rodolfo got up, but Prieto pushed him back into the bed. Jessie handed Prieto a smaller screwdriver, which Prieto used to stab Rodolfo. The 3 made their way through the house, grabbing jewelry and whatever cash they could find. At some point, Moran emerged from her room, and Jessie stabbed her with a knife. Reports say Jessie stabbed Moran eight different times. Rodolfo was stabbed 17 times, and Virginia 31. Prieto was convicted in June 1995 and sentenced to death for the 3 murders. Only 16 at the time of killings, Jessie was spared the death penalty and instead sentenced to life in prison. Charges against Guadalupe were dropped for lack of sufficient evidence. Prieto never appealed his verdict, but he did take issue with the punishment - and blamed his attorneys for the sentence. Specifically, he argued in a writ of habeas corpus filed May 8, 2002, his trial attorneys Michael Bernard and Julie Pollock failed to properly use three pieces of evidence during the punishment phase of the trial. First, they neglected to present his school records - which were not allowed as evidence during the guilt/innocence phase and showed that Prieto had very poor grades that would keep him from certain career fields. Second, they did not properly convey a doctor's expert testimony on the effect that cocaine has on someone's actions - which might have shown that Prieto had an impairment on his executive functioning. Finally, they failed to get a copy of Prieto's statement (damning and descriptive as it was) to the jury during punishment deliberations. The jury sent out a series of related notes during those deliberations, going so far as to ask whether or not, as the appeal notes, drug use and possible addiction would be grounds for mitigation. That, compounded with other questions, had the jury at a temporary standstill over whether Prieto could be considered a continuing threat to society - a condition for a death sentence. Ultimately, the appellate court concluded that Pollock had attempted to present enough mitigating evidence to obtain a life sentence in lieu of the death penalty, and that the jury's decisions were informed decisions. It also determined that the evidence of cocaine abuse was 'double-edged' because it might establish future dangerousness rather than mitigation, and that the jury already knew Prieto was a high school dropout who was partially responsible for supporting his family. At the start, it must be understood that the defense had no hope of proving that Mr. Prieto was not a future danger to society, the court
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO, CALIF., USA
Nov. 29 TEXAS: Convicted El Paso serial killer loses appeal The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has rejected a claim by convicted El Paso serial killer David Leonard Wood that he should not be put to death because he claims he is mentally disabled. The trial court held a hearing and made findings of fact and conclusions of law recommending that his application be denied because applicant (Wood) has failed to show that he is mentally retarded, according to the court order. This court has reviewed the record with respect to (Wood's) allegations. Based upon the trial court's findings and conclusions and our own review, we deny relief, the court justices said. Bert Richardson, a visiting judge, presided over Wood's post-conviction appeal. Richardson recommended that the appellate court not find Wood to be mentally disabled. According to Richardson's findings, multiple IQ tests were given to Wood over the years, with dramatically different results, which complicated the mental disability claim. Richardson submitted a formal recommendation, but it was up to the appellate court to issue a final ruling on the appeal. Richardson was elected in the Nov. 4 general election to serve as a new justice on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The Nov. 26 order handed down by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals does not address Wood's other appeal related to his request for additional DNA testing, nor does it state that a new execution date will be set. Wood was convicted in 1992 of murdering s6 young women in El Paso in 1987, and was sentenced to death by lethal injection. Wood, who is now 57, has denied killing anyone. The victims attributed to him were Angelica Frausto, 17; Dawn Smith, 14; Desiree Wheatley, 15; Ivy Susanna Williams, 23; Rosa Maria Casio, 24; and Karen Baker, 20. Their bodies were found in shallow graves near what is now the Painted Dunes Golf Course in Northeast El Paso. The golf course did not exist at the time. El Paso Police Department detectives said they also suspected Wood in the disappearances of Cheryl Vazquez, 19; Melissa Alaniz, 14; and Margie Knox, 14, of Chaparral. They were reported missing in the Northeast El Paso area in 1987 and were never found. Hopefully, this brings us one step closer to finalizing the sentence that the trial court gave Wood 22 years ago, said Marcia Wheatley Fulton, Desiree Wheatley's mother. A jury of his peers found him guilty in 1992, and here we are, still waiting. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Wood a stay of execution in 2009, the day before he was scheduled to be executed to give him time to prepare his mental disability claim. The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in a separate case (Atkins v. Virginia) in 2002 that executing a mentally disabled person violates the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unjust punishment. (source: El Paso Times) ** Scott Panetti should not be executed There is no question that Scott Panetti brutally shot his in-laws to death in 1992. And there is no question that Panetti, now 56, was mentally ill at the time he committed the murders and remains mentally incompetent and in need of treatment today. But somehow, questions still linger over whether or not Panetti - who has been on death row since his 1995 conviction and who is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Wednesday - should be executed for his crimes. The clear answer to those questions is no. Panetti's tragic and sometimes bizarre case has been winding its way through state and federal courts for more than 2 decades. His tortured life of mental illness has gone on much longer. In the years before the murders, Panetti was hospitalized or involuntarily committed more than a dozen times. He collected federal disability checks because he could not work. Why his commitment was only temporary is one of many tragedies in Panetti's twisted case. It was clear years before his crimes that his illness rendered him capable of such atrocities. Despite a 14-year history of emotional and psychological disturbances that could fill volumes, including diagnoses of fragmented personality, delusions, and hallucinations as well as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and homicidal tendencies, he was found competent to stand trial. He insisted on representing himself, calling as witnesses the pope and Jesus Christ in his defense. He blamed the murders on one of his alternate personalities - a man named Sarge - whom doctors had identified years prior. His conviction and subsequent attempts to appeal his death sentence prompted a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2007 that changed the criteria under which states can execute inmates whose mental competency is in question. Defendants, the court said, must have a rational understanding of the reason for their imminent execution and once an execution date is set, be permitted to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO
June 15 TEXAS: Senate OKs Life With Parole for 17-Year-Old Murderers The Senate on Friday approved a measure that would require judges and juries to sentence 17-year-olds convicted of capital murder to life in prison with the chance of parole after 40 years. Gov. Rick Perry expanded the agenda of the special session to include legislation establishing a mandatory sentence of life with parole for 17-year-olds convicted of capital murder. Prosecutors have said they need lawmakers to address sentencing options for those criminals after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that juveniles could not be sentenced to mandatory life without parole. The measure that senators passed Friday in a 27-0 vote - Senate Bill 23, by state Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Southside Place - now goes to the House. In Texas, 17-year-olds have faced the same sentencing options as adults convicted of capital murder: the death penalty and life without parole. In 2005, the Supreme Court prohibited the death penalty for anyone younger than 18, deciding that the less-developed brains of juveniles render them less culpable for their behavior. That left only the possibility of life without parole as punishment for 17-year-olds found guilty of capital crimes. After last year's Miller v. Alabama ruling, prosecutors said they were left with no sentencing options for 17-year-old killers. Under SB 23, judges and juries would be required to hand down a sentence of life with the chance of parole after 40 years. Some senators raised concerns that SB 23 doesn't solve the constitutional problems presented in the Miller case, though. They say the court wanted judges and juries to have more options when they consider sentences for juveniles. If what they were getting at was the 1-size-fits all, do you think this gets us back in court, state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, asked Huffman during debate on the Senate floor. Huffman, a former prosecutor and state criminal judge, said the bill addressed Texas' historic policy of being tough on the more heinous offenders while still addressing the court's concerns. I do not think we're violating Miller by passing this legislation, she said. Huffman said there are 12 pending cases in Harris County involving 17-year-olds accused of murder. State Sen. Juan Chuy Hinojosa, D-McAllen, said that there are 27 juveniles currently serving sentences of life without the possibility parole and that SB 23 would allow Perry to commute those sentences to life with parole eligibility after 40 years. (source: Texas Tribune) FLORIDA: Gov. Rick Scott signs bill to speed up executions in Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill into law Friday aimed at accelerating the pace of the death penalty process in Florida that could make the governor the most active executioner in modern state history. The measure, dubbed the Timely Justice Act by its proponents, requires governors to sign death warrants 30 days after the Florida Supreme Court certifies that an inmate has exhausted his legal appeals and his clemency review. Once a death warrant is signed, the new law requires the state to execute the defendant within 6 months. In a lengthy letter accompanying his signature, Scott aggressively countered allegations by opponents that the law will fast track death penalty cases and emphasized that it discourages stalling tactics of defense attorneys and ensures that the convicted do not languish on death row for decades. The bill, which passed the House 84-34 and was approved by the Senate 28-10, allows the governor to control the execution schedule slightly because it requires him to sign a death warrant after the required clemency review is completed and only the governor may order the clemency investigation. Scott's office told lawmakers that because at least 13 of the 404 inmates on death row have exhausted their appeals, his office has already started the clock on the clemency review. If Scott were to sign death warrants for the 13 eligible inmates, and their executions were to continue as planned, he will be on schedule to put to death 21 murderers since he took office in January 2011. The only other recent governor who executed that many people was former Gov. Jeb Bush, who ordered the execution of 21 convicted killers but did it over an 8-year period. The only governor to commute a death sentence since the state passed its current capital punishment law in 1973 was former Gov. Bob Graham who reduced the sentences of seven men between 1979 and 1983 for various reasons, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The clemency provision was added at the request of Scott's general counsel, Pete Antonacci. The clemency investigation allows for the state Parole Commission to conduct an off-the-record review of the entire case and recommend whether the death warrant should be signed or the sentence commuted. Opponents warn that the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO
July 22 TEXAS: Appeals court affirms man's death sentence The Court of Criminal Appeals has affirmed the death sentence of a 40-year-old Palestine man found guilty of murdering his 2-year-old biological child more than 5 years ago. Robert Leslie Roberson III, 40, of Palestine was sentenced to die by lethal injection by a 12-person Anderson County jury at the conclusion of his February 2003 trial. During the trial's guilt/innocence phase, Roberson had been found guilty of capital murder in connection with the death of 2-year-old Nikki Curtis who died of blunt force head injuries at a Dallas hospital on Feb. 1, 2002. Curtis had been transported to a Palestine hospital the previous day before being transferred to Children's Medical Center in Dallas, with the defendant claiming the toddler suffered her injuries as a result of falling from a bed. Evidence during Roberson's trial, however, showed that Curtis' fatal injuries were consistent with shaken baby or shaken impact syndrome. Testimony during the trial also indicated that the defendant had obtained legal custody of Curtis approximately 3 months before the child's death. In his appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest criminal court, Roberson raised 13 points of error, but each was determined to have no merit. The Court recently affirmed Roberson's death sentence. We are pleased with the Courts decision, Anderson County District Attorney Doug Lowe said. The defendant may request a reconsideration, but I expect Mr. Roberson's next step will be to proceed with the federal writ process. Our office remains committed to seek justice on behalf of Nikki Curtis. Roberson is currently residing on death row outside of Livingston, but will likely not have an execution date set for several years. The federal process begins with the filing of a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court, Lowe said. Ultimately, the case will make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. It is likely many years will pass before Mr. Roberson faces execution. Prior to being found guilty of murdering his toddler child, Roberson had been sentenced to 10 years in prison during the 1990s for burglary of a habitation. (source: The Palestine Herald) *** Counties, defendants benefit from program A state-funded 18-month pilot program expanding the services of the Bexar Appellate Public Defender Office is good news to indigent criminal defendants seeking appeals and the counties where they were convicted. The Bexar County office was created in August 2005 with funding from a state grant. Last May, the office received additional funding to hire another lawyer and a paralegal and expand its services to the 32 counties in the 4th Judicial Region. Thus far, 26 counties have signed up, said Chief Appellate Public Defender Angela Moore. Crime is a booming business across the state, court records indicate. Under the new pilot program, participating counties will refer the criminal appeals of indigent defendants to the Bexar County office, which will handle them free of charge. This will assure that experienced appellate lawyers will represent defendants in rural counties with a limited number of legal professionals. The counties in turn will be saving court-appointed-lawyer fees that come with providing legal counsel for indigent defendants. Legal appeals are not cheap. The tab for an appeal on a regular felony case can easily add up to $4,500. A death penalty capital murder case appeal can cost $16,000 or more. During its first 18 months of operation, the appellate public defender's office handled 400 appeals, significantly more than the 120 cases officials anticipated filing during that time period. If the expanded program is successful, Moore wants to establish a system where the outlying counties help support the office with an annual funding allocation that would be determined by the volume of cases they refer to the office, similar to a legal service insurance. It makes a lot of sense. Court appointed legal fees are always a big budget item for county commissioners. Having a central office handling appeals with well-qualified lawyers who are experts in that field would ensure that the money is being wisely spent and reduce claims of incompetent legal counsel. (source: Editorial, San Antonio Express-News) FLORIDA: THE SERRANO MURDER CASEWhat Serrano's trial cost us Nelson Ivan Serrano was recently sentenced to death for the 1997 slayings of 4 people in what is considered Polk County's worst mass murder. Serrano was convicted of killing Frank Dosso, 35; Diane Patisso, 28; and 2 business associates, George Gonsalves, 69; and George Patisso Jr., 26. A financial dispute led Felice Dosso and Gonsalves to fire Serrano as president of a garment-conveyor factory months before the December 1997 killings. Now that Serrano, 68, is out of the local jail and on death row at the Florida State Prison in Starke, some of the
