Nov. 15
TEXAS----impending execution
Child killer John Battaglia is mentally unfit to be executed, psychologists say
John Battaglia, the former accountant who murdered his daughters while their
mother listened helplessly on the phone in 2001, appeared in a Dallas County
courtroom Monday as a judge considered whether he's mentally fit to be put to
death.
Battaglia, 61, is set to be executed Dec. 7.
But first, a judge must rule on his competency. Under Texas law, an inmate
cannot be executed if he does not understand why he's being executed or that
execution is imminent.
Battaglia shot his daughters, 9-year-old Faith and 6-year-old Liberty, inside
his Deep Ellum loft in 2001. He had arranged a call with his ex-wife, who
listened on the phone as the older girl begged for mercy.
"No, Daddy! Don't do it!" Faith pleaded, before the phone line exploded with
gunfire.
The act flung Battaglia into infamy as people in Dallas and around the nation
struggled to comprehend why any father would shoot his children -- and then go
get 2 roses tattooed on his arm in their memory. A Dallas County jury sentenced
him to death in 2002.
Prosecutors believe Battaglia has enough understanding to go forward with the
execution. Defense attorneys argue that his mental illness and "delusions"
should spare him. His execution was first postponed in March to give the courts
time to sort out this issue.
Battaglia wore square glasses and an orange-and-white striped jumpsuit during
his court appearance Monday. He listened for much of the day, but occasionally
laughed, whispered loudly to his lawyer or turned around to look at spectators
in the gallery. At one point, he shouted out that it was all a "conspiracy."
3 psychologists testified that Battaglia suffers from delusional disorder, a
mental illness characterized by having unshakable beliefs in things that aren't
true. They disagreed on whether he has bipolar disorder and narcissistic
personality disorder.
All testified that Battaglia is mentally incompetent for execution -- but for
different reasons.
Dr. Diane M. Mosnik, a clinical psychologist who spent 16 hours with Battaglia
to test and interview him for the defense, said Battaglia meets one criteria
for competency: He knows he has an execution date scheduled. But she said he
fails the second: he doesn't understand why he's being put to death.
Battaglia believes he's being executed not because he shot his children, but
because of a conspiracy to "quiet him," one that involves everyone from the
attorneys and judges in his case to religious figures, such as the pope, Mosnik
said.
2 other psychologists -- Dr. Timothy Proctor, called by the state, and Dr.
Thomas G. Allen, called by the court -- drew a distinction between a factual
and rational understanding of the case.
Battaglia factually understands that he is on death row because he was
convicted of killing his children, they said. But they also said he does not
rationally understand that he murdered his daughters; his mental illness makes
him believe he didn't do it.
That lack of "rational understanding" makes him incompetent to be put to death,
the psychologists testified.
It will be up to the judge to interpret whether -- or how -- the "rational
understanding" rule applies.
State District Judge Robert Burns pushed the psychologists for more information
about whether Battaglia, an intelligent man who once passed the CPA exam, could
be feigning mental illness to skirt the death penalty.
2 psychologists testified that Battaglia was not faking it.
Burns also questioned whether delusional thinking comes as a coping mechanism.
"If you personally committed a really heinous offense," he asked the state's
psychologist, Proctor, "how would you not, at some point in the passage of
time, create some kind of a delusional explanation for what you did?"
Proctor said the judge was "hitting the nail on the head of the fine
distinction we're talking about." He said it's one thing if an inmate tells a
story to make themselves feel better; it's another if he truly doesn't
understand because mental illness has altered his reality.
Faith and Liberty's mother, Mary Jean Pearle, was in court for her ex-husband's
hearing, but left without comment.
Battaglia's father -- also named John -- was also there. He said he hopes
action will be taken to "cure" his son. "The last thing he would have done if
he were sane is kill those 2 girls," he said of his granddaughters.
A ruling is not expected until at least Tuesday, when testimony continues. The
judge could rule from the bench then, or wait to make a decision.
(source: Dallas Morning News)
GEORGIA----impending execution//volunteer
Board to Hold Clemency Hearing for Georgia Death Row Inmate
The state parole board plans to hold a clemency hearing for a Georgia inmate
scheduled for execution this week.
Steven Frederick Spears is to be put to death Wednesday. He was convicted in
the August 2001 slaying of his ex-girlfriend Sherri Holland at her home in
Dahlonega, about 65 miles northeast of Atlanta.
Lawyers and other representatives for Spears plan to ask the State Board of
Pardons and Paroles to spare his life during a hearing Tuesday. Enotah Judicial
Circuit District Attorney Jeff Langley says he plans to argue for Spears'
execution.
The parole board is the only authority in Georgia with power to commute a death
sentence.
Spears' lawyers are also asking a judge to set a hearing on alleged
constitutional problems during his trial and sentencing.
(source: Associated Press)
*****************
Killer's ex-wife petitions to stop execution set for Wednesday
A former wife of murderer Steven Spears asked a court on Monday to let her file
an appeal on his behalf since he has taken no legal steps to stop his execution
for killing his former girlfriend in August 2001.
Only an automatic appeal was filed on Spears' behalf soon after he was
convicted of murder in Lumpkin County in 2007 and sentenced to death. He has
not filed anything else to challenge his conviction or death sentence, which is
scheduled to be carried out on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Spears readily admitted he smothered Sherri Holland in her Dahlonega home. And
he refused to let his trial attorney present any evidence that might persuade
the jury to sentence him to life in prison.
Gwen Thompson - Spears' 3rd wife and the mother of the youngest of his 4
daughters - filed a "next friend" petition on Monday in Superior Court in Butts
County, where Georgia's death row is located. An attorney at the Georgia
Resource Center, which handles appeals for death row inmates, filed the
petition for Thompson.
In legal parlance, a "next friend" is an individual who acts on behalf of
another individual who is determined not to have the legal capacity to act on
his own.
Psychologist Robert Shaffer, who provided a sworn statement, wrote that there
was evidence that "mental illness, rather than any rational decision-making,
has compelled him (Spears) thus far to forgo available legal remedies. Thus,
next friend status ought to be conferred on Ms. Thompson, and this court should
... stay the pending execution."
Thompson asked the court to stop Spears' execution to allow time to determine
whether mistakes were made in his trial. Thompson's petition said she was
stepping in because Spears is mentally ill and does not grasp the consequences
if he does not fight for his life.
Spears' lawyer, Allyn Stockton, was unaware of the petition until told about it
by a reporter.
According to the petition, Georgia law says if a person under a death sentence
"declines to pursue available post-conviction legal remedies due to a mental
disease or defect," a person who "has a significant relationship with the
death-sentenced person" can pursue an appeal for them.
Thompson's petition details Spears' life growing up and his family's history of
mental illness. According to the petition, Spears suffered "overt cruelty and
abuse" from his parents and grandmother. His father abandoned the family when
he was 7 or 8 years old, leaving them in poverty, the petition states. Thompson
wrote that Spears' classmates teased and bullied him because of his shabby,
ill-fitting clothes.
Finally, the Thompson petition states, Spears was essentially sentenced to
death "because he is poor and male."
It is not clear how long Thompson and Spears were married. Their relationship
began in 1983. Their daughter was born in 1988, but the filing does not say if
they were married at the time. Spears and Holland started dating in 1999, the
petition said.
Spears has steadfastly refused to let Stockton, his lawyer, file an appeal. And
he would not speak with the State Board of Pardons and Paroles investigator who
came to the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison last week for an
interview the agency routinely conducts prior to every execution.
On Tuesday, the Parole Board will hear from Holland's family and local
authorities who want Spears' sentence carried out. The board will also meet
with those who want to save him, even though Spears did not authorize his
lawyer to file a clemency petition.
According to the board, those planning to ask for mercy include Spears' lawyer
Stockton, as well as two attorneys and others from the Federal Defender
Program.
Stockton said Spears has refused to see him and has not responded to his many
letters. The last time Spears and Stockton spoke was March 2015, a court filing
states. Stockton said Spears also has refused to see his family, agreeing to a
visit only on the day he is to be executed.
Even before his trial, Spears would waver on the question of whether he wanted
to be executed.
If Spears, 54, is put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday, he will be the
eighth man Georgia has executed since this year, more than any other state in
2016. The last time Georgia carried out as many executions in a year was 1957,
when 16 people were put to death.
Spears told investigators in the hours after his arrest that he had warned
Holland at the beginning of their relationship that he would kill her if she
replaced him. Several months after Holland ended their relationship, Spears
plotted her murder by setting up what he needed to kill her in any of four
different ways - electrocution, beating, shooting or suffocation.
He ultimately chose suffocation.
He hid in the closet of the bedroom where Holland's son usually slept. The boy
was away that night, spending the weekend with his father.
Spears sneaked out of the closet in the early-morning hours of Aug. 25, 2001,
after he was sure Holland was asleep. He choked the 34-year-old single mother
until she was unconscious, then smothered her by wrapping duct tape around her
face and mouth, placing a plastic bag over her head, and sealing the bag with
duct tape.
Spears hid in the woods for 10 days and was picked up as he walked to town to
turn himself in.
He willingly told investigators he murdered Holland and said, "If I had to do
it again, I'd do it."
(source: myajc.com)
ALABAMA:
New Jefferson County prosecutors 'personally opposed' to death penalty
Jefferson County leads the state in sending criminals to death row, but that
could be about to change.
New top prosecutors are preparing to take over the Bessemer and Birmingham
divisions and both have reservations about the death penalty.
Charles Todd Henderson, a Democrat, won election last week to become district
attorney for the Birmingham division in Jefferson County.
In Bessemer, Lynneice Washington, also a Democrat, is leading Republican Bill
Veitch in the race for district attorney in the Bessemer division. Washington
is leading Veitch by 223 votes going into today when provisional ballots and
overseas and military ballots will be counted. Because of the tight race (less
than 1/2 of 1 % difference), an automatic recount will be held Nov. 21.
If Washington wins she would become the first female and African American to
become a District Attorney in Jefferson County. She also would be the 1st black
woman to hold the position of district attorney in Alabama history.
One race Tuesday - the one for district attorney in Bessemer - is close enough
so far to qualify for a statutory automatic recount.
Both Henderson and Washington say they are "personally opposed" to the death
penalty.
"It's not going to be my routine policy to seek the death penalty in every
capital murder case," Henderson said.
The death penalty should be reserved for the "most heinous of circumstances,"
Henderson said.
Henderson cited Jeffrey Dahmer as an example of a person convicted of such a
heinous crime. The Milwaukee man raped, murdered and dismembered 17 men between
1978 and 1991. Wisconsin does not have the death penalty and Dahmer was
sentenced to 16 life sentences. He was killed in prison by another inmate.
Henderson said he also has a problem with Alabama being the last state to allow
a judge to override a jury's recommendation for life without parole and impose
the death penalty for a defendant.
"We serve at the will of the people, whether you are talking about a judge or
prosecutor," Henderson said. "We should honor what the people say."
Henderson said he also favors going back as far as the 1980s and 1990s to
review death penalty cases to make sure someone wasn't wrongfully convicted. He
cited, as an example, the release last year of Anthony Ray Hinton, who service
nearly 3 decades on death row for the slayings of 2 Birmingham-area fast food
managers. Hinton was released after new forensic testing on the alleged murder
weapon - the key piece of evidence in the case - couldn't be matched to the
bullets from the slayings. Hinton's lawyers had argued for more than a decade
that the testing should be done.
Henderson said the office couldn't look at every case, but if there are cases
brought to the office's attention, then it "is incumbent on us to go back and
look at the case."
Neither candidate, however, went as far to say that they wouldn't seek the
death penalty in any circumstance.
"I am personally opposed to the death penalty because there have been so many
people who were put on death row who were later found to be innocent,"
Washington said.
But like her potential counterpart, Washington said she would still have to
follow the law when it came to the death penalty. "I don't make the laws. I
have to follow the laws," she said.
A report released last week by Harvard Law's Fair Punishment Project states
that all five of those sentenced to death in Jefferson County during that
6-year period were black.
Jefferson County - all in the Birmingham division - sent more criminal
defendants to death row between 2010 and 2015 than almost every other county in
the nation, according to the report "Too Broken to Fix" released last month by
Harvard Law's Fair Punishment Project.
The report, among other things, cited overzealousness of prosecutors for
Jefferson County making that list.
The report describes Jefferson County as being among 16 "outlier" counties in
the nation when it comes to sentencing the most people to death in the nation.
Jefferson County is the most populous county in Alabama and is home to
Birmingham which has one of the highest violent crime rates in the nation.
Brandon Falls, the Republican who had held the job of district attorney in the
Birmingham division for the past 8 years before he lost re-election last week,
did not respond to a call to his office for a response to this story.
But last month he did respond to the Harvard report.
He said the report didn't consider the sheer volume of homicide cases in
Jefferson County. He noted that during that 6-year period of 2010 to 2015 the
report studied, there were 180 capital murder cases and 205 murder cases
charged in Jefferson County.
In 2015 Birmingham was the nation's 3rd most violent among cities with
populations of 100,000 or more, and was 5th in homicides, according to FBI
statistics.
"Educated minds can disagree about the effectiveness and appropriateness of the
death penalty," Falls stated in an email to AL.com regarding the report. "The
role of the District Attorney's Office is to protect the citizens of Jefferson
County by enforcing the law as set out by the Alabama Legislature, the Alabama
appellate courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court, and to do so ethically and
without bias toward any individual. This responsibility is and always will be
the highest priority of my office."
(source: al.com)
***************
Lawmaker proposes firing squad, nitrogen for executions
Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Montrose, filed a bill earlier this month to allow Alabama
to execute condemned inmates by firing squad.
Now he's thinking about adding another method: gassing inmates to death with
nitrogen.
"The main thing is that we come up with some alternatives to get out of the
bind we're in," Pittman said.
(source: Anniston Star)
OHIO----inmpending execution
Ohio inmate seeks to stop January execution date
An inmate scheduled to be the 1st executed in Ohio in 3 years wants a delay so
he can have more time to challenge to the state's new 3-drug method for
carrying out death sentences.
Ronald Phillips, who filed the request in federal court late last week, and
other inmates are trying to block the new procedure, arguing that it will
result in a painful and barbaric death.
The state in October announced plans to carry out at least three executions
with the new drug combination.
It hasn't executed any prisoner since January 2014 when death row inmate Dennis
McGuire repeatedly gasped and snorted during a 26-minute procedure using a
never-before-tried two-drug combo.
Executions then went on hold as the state had trouble finding new supplies of
drugs, which were made off limits for executions by drugmakers.
Phillips is scheduled to be executed on Jan. 12 for the rape and murder of his
girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter, Sheila Marie Evan, in Akron in 1993.
His execution already has been delayed several times, including in 2013 when he
made a last-minute request that was later denied to donate a kidney to his
mother, who was on dialysis.
The latest challenge says a delay is needed to make sure he can pursue his
claims.
"This court should not permit Phillips' execution to proceed before the court
has the opportunity to review the full merits of his constitutional claims,"
his attorney wrote in the filing made on Friday.
A message seeking comment was left Monday with Dan Tierney, a spokesman for
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.
A federal appeals court 2 weeks ago rejected a different challenge to Ohio's
execution process that argued against a state law that shields the names of
companies providing lethal injection drugs.
3 death row inmates countered that the law restricts information that helps
inform the public debate over capital punishment.
(source: The Republic)
*************
Warren man convicted of beating elderly couple appeals death sentence----Under
federal law, someone with a severe enough mental disability may be ineligible
for the death penalty
A Warren man, on death row for the brutal beating of an elderly couple, is
appealing his sentence by claiming he was mentally disabled at the time of the
crime.
Andre Williams was convicted of the 1988 attack that killed George Melnick and
blinded Melnick's wife, Katherine.
Over a year ago, an appeals court said that Williams could continue his appeal,
ruling the state courts failed to properly apply federal law governing claims
of mental disability in capital punishment cases.
The federal court also said that a lower court ruled improperly when it refused
to recognize evidence of Williams' disabilities that dated back to when he was
a teenager.
Under federal law, someone with a severe enough mental disability may be
ineligible for the death penalty.
Williams' co-defendant Christopher Daniel is serving a life sentence.
(source: WYTV news)
KENTUCKY:
Death row exoneree: Repeal Kentucky's death penalty
Imagine spending 5,110 nights behind prison walls, with the threat of execution
hanging over your head, for a crime you had nothing to do with.
I don't have to imagine it. I spent 12 years on death row in Illinois for a
crime I did not commit. I was released from prison in May of 2004, and ever
since, I have been traveling the country to share this message, "You can
release a man from prison, but you can't release him from the grave."
After telling my story at Kentucky colleges, meeting with fair goers and
legislators a couple of years ago, I'm back to meet with faith-based groups,
civic clubs, students and community members across Eastern Kentucky.
In 1986, a friend and I were questioned by police about the brutal, double
murders of newlyweds in our rural Southern Illinois town. We cooperated with
investigators and provided a corroborated alibi for the night of the murders.
Shockingly, within 97 days of our contact with police both of us were arrested,
tried and convicted.
I was sentenced to death, and my friend was given a life sentence.
Wondering how something like this could happen? I had poor legal
representation, and witnesses fabricated testimony against me, due to police
misconduct. An investigation by the Illinois State Police proved that local law
enforcement and prosecutors had framed me.
Think my case is unusual, and that something like this could not happen in
Kentucky? Think again.
A 2-year review by a team of Kentucky legal experts found that "serious
problems persist" in the state???s death penalty procedures.
Of the 78 people sentenced to death in Kentucky since the death penalty was
reinstated in 1976, 50 have had their death sentence overturned on appeal by
Kentucky or federal courts. That is an error rate of more than 60 %.
The review by the Kentucky Assessment Team on the Death Penalty produced a
number of other troubling findings: There are inadequate standards for
retaining evidence that could exonerate innocent people and aid apprehension of
the guilty; there are no uniform standards to guard against false eyewitness
identifications and false confessions; public defenders in the commonwealth
have caseloads that far exceed national averages, and salaries that are 31
percent below those of similarly experienced attorneys in surrounding states.
Other problem areas the review uncovered included juror confusion over
sentencing guidelines, inadequate protections for the mentally disabled, racial
and socioeconomic biases that influence all aspects of death penalty cases, and
a lack of record-keeping "making it impossible to guarantee that the system is
operating fairly and effectively."
The review confirmed what the ACLU of Kentucky and their coalition partners
with the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty have been saying for
years: Kentucky???s death penalty system is irretrievably broken.
The only way to permanently fix this risky, arbitrary, unfair, ineffective and
costly distraction from justice is to repeal the death penalty in the
commonwealth. Other states are getting the message; 20 are already non-death
penalty states.
How long before folks in Kentucky realize that innocent lives, like mine are at
risk?
(source: Op-Ed; Randy Steidl is a member of Witness to Innocence, an
organization of death row exonerees. He will host free, public events in
Prestonsburg, Pikeville and Whitesburg November 14-16. For tour details visit
http://www.aclu-ky.org/----kentucky.com)
TENNESSEE:
No word yet on death penalty for accused Blount cop killer
It could be spring of 2017 before Blount County's top prosecutor announces
whether he will seek the life of a veteran for the death of a cop.
Brian Keith Stalans, 44, was arraigned Monday in Blount County Circuit Court on
charges of 1st-degree murder, 2 counts of attempted murder, 2 counts of
aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a weapon.
The veteran, who has a long history of mental illness, is accused in the Aug.
25 shooting death of Maryville Police Department Officer Kenny Moats, a
32-year-old father of 3. The attempted murder charges stem from the firing upon
Moats' partner that day, Blount County Sheriff's Office Deputy David Mendez.
The assault counts stem from an earlier incident in which Stalans allegedly
fired shots into a home where his girlfriend, Margaret E. Partridge, and their
toddler son, Jacob Stalans, were inside.
At Monday's brief arraignment, Judge Tammy Harrington noted the slaying of a
cop qualifies under Tennessee law as a factor upon which the death penalty can
be sought.
"There is a potential this is a death penalty case," she said.
Blount County District Attorney General Mike Flynn agreed but said his office
is awaiting the results of various evidentiary testing, including an analysis
of bullets and firearms involved in the fatal encounter between Stalans and law
enforcers and toxicology reports to assess Stalans' level of intoxication,
before making a decision.
"We have asked them to expedite in this case," Flynn said of various forensic
examiners.
Harrington formally appointed Blount County Public Defender Mack Garner's
office, which already had been attached to the case at a lower court hearing,
and set a March 10 status hearing. Stalans did not enter a plea. Garner is
himself awaiting the results of much of the testing referred to by Flynn as
well as an examination of other evidence the state will use.
Harrington said she will set a deadline at the March 10 hearing on designation
of the case as capital murder. Stalans will formally enter a plea then. Given
Stalans' history of mental illness and addiction, Garner could seek to mount a
case of not guilty by reason of insanity. But the law sets a high bar for such
a finding, and such defenses are rarely successful in Tennessee.
Moats and Mendez, both members of the 5th Judicial Drug Task Force, were in the
area of the 3111 Kerrway Lane home Stalans shared with his father when the
father phoned authorities after being warned an angry and drunken Stalans was
on his way there. Earlier that day, Stalans' girlfriend recently testified,
Stalans was drunk on Jim Beam and had fired shots into her Alcoa home before
heading off to his father's residence. Father and son already had an
altercation that day, but the father declined to press charges.
When Moats and Mendez responded to the father's home upon hearing the call,
Mendez testified at a hearing earlier this year that the pair saw Stalans with
a gun in his hand in a garage. The pair, already outfitted in bulletproof
vests, took cover along with Stalans' father behind the officers' unmarked
Tahoe. Mendez said Stalans opened fire from behind a barricade of shelving in
the garage. Moats was struck in the throat, severing his spinal cord.
Mendez and another officer, who arrived a bit later, returned fire as,
according to Mendez, Stalans continued to advance toward the Tahoe. Stalans
abruptly surrendered, he said.
(source: Knoxville News Sentinel)
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