[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, LA., IND., TENN., OKLA., NEB., NEV.
July 31 TEXAS: Testimony ends in death penalty appeal Testimony has concluded in the latest appeal in the case of Micah Crofford Brown, convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death by lethal injection. Testimony has concluded in the latest appeal in the case of Micah Crofford Brown, convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death by lethal injection in connection with the 2011 shooting death of his ex-wife Stella Michelle "Doc" Ray, a Caddo Mills Independent School District teacher. A final decision in the case is not expected for a few more months, according to 196th District Court Judge Andrew Bench. Both sides rested their cases Friday in the hearing after all evidence was presented related to Brown's latest appeal. Bench said the attorneys will now await delivery of an official transcript of the hearing, then they can review the transcript before presenting their "facts and conclusions of law." Bench said once those documents are presented to his court, he will schedule a hearing for both sides to present their final live arguments before he makes a ruling in the appeal. Brown was transferred from state prison to the custody of the Hunt County Detention Center for this latest hearing, and he remained in the jail Monday. Brown, of Greenville, was convicted in May 2013 and sentenced to death by lethal injection. He does not yet have an execution date scheduled. Testimony during the trial indicated Ray was shot and killed in Greenville on the night of July 20, 2011, as the result of a dispute with Brown concerning the couple's 2 children. After the conviction and death sentence were upheld by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, a post-conviction writ was filed on Brown's behalf in 2015 by the Office of Capital Writs, a state agency charged with representing death-sentenced persons in state post-conviction habeas corpus and related proceedings. The 124-page document listed multiple alleged issues with Brown's conviction and sentence, including ineffective assistance by the trial and appeals defense attorneys, improper arguments by prosecutors during the punishment phase, and failure to present evidence during the punishment phase that Brown suffers from an autism spectrum disorder, a developmental disorder that affects communication and behavior, which may have mitigated the jury's decision to issue the death penalty. During Brown's capital murder trial, Ray's mother testified her daughter had worked as a teacher for the Caddo Mills ISD for 2 years, and she had just earned her doctorate degree and was planning on taking a professorship at a college in Marshall. Donna Ray said her daughter was planning to stop by her residence on the night of the murder, the day before she was to move to Marshall. During the trial, defense attorney Toby Wilkinson stated that the shooting was the result of a dispute between Brown and Ray concerning the couple's 2 small children, who were inside the PT Cruiser that Ray was driving on the night she was killed. (source: Herald Banner) AP reporter who observed 400+ executions in Texas retires Associated Press journalist Michael Graczyk, who witnessed and chronicled more than 400 executions as a criminal justice reporter in Texas, will retire Tuesday after nearly 46 years with the news service. Graczyk, 68, may have observed more executions than any other person in the United States since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Millions of readers in Texas and beyond relied on his coverage of capital punishment in America's most active death penalty state. He built a reputation for accuracy and fairness with death row inmates, their families, their victims' families and their lawyers, as well as prison officials and advocates on both sides of capital punishment. He made a point of visiting and photographing every condemned inmate willing to be interviewed and talking to relatives of their victims. Over time, he became widely known as an authority on the death penalty and a witness to history. Even after retiring, Graczyk will continue covering executions for the AP on a freelance basis, an arrangement he suggested. Long ago, Graczyk said, he stopped keeping count of how many executions he observed. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice's list of media witnesses includes his name 429 times, though that list is not exhaustive. "It has given me a greater appreciation for life," he said. "You get a real sense of life and how fast it can be taken." Noreen Gillespie, the AP's deputy managing editor for U.S. news, said the significance of Graczyk's work "can't be underestimated." "Mike's description of what happens in an execution is how the world and most of the country knows how that happens," she said. Graczyk joined the AP in 1972 in Detroit, shortly after graduating from Wayne State University. He moved to Houston in 1983
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, LA., IND., TENN.
March 28 TEXAS: Texas is Set to Execute a Mentally Retarded Man On April 11, 2007. U.S. Supreme Court Atkins Decision be Damned. On February 26, 2007 the Supreme Court of the United States denied James Clark's Petition for Writ of Certiorari on a Mental Retardation Claim. On February 28, 2007 Texas District Judge Lee Gabriel ordered the State of Texas to execute James Clark on April 11, 2007. NOTE: On June 20, 2002 in Atkins v. Virgina, 536 U.S. 304 (2002), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to execute the mentally retarded. This makes James Clark's case a horrible injustice, for each of the psychological experts who thoroughly tested Mr. Clark swear that he's mentally retarded. Amazingly, Judge Gabriel thinks that she knows better than the experts and ruled that James Clark is not mentally retarded. Just as amazingly, all of the appellate courts affirmed Judge Gabriel's decision -- the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the U.S. District Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and now the Supreme Court of the United States. James Clark meets the Texas legal definition of mental retardation. [See Texas Persons With Mental Retardation Act -- Texas Health Safety Code, Chapter 591.] Yet trial judge Lee Gabriel has been allowed to supercede these laws and rule that for the purpose of the death penalty James Lee Clark is not mentally retarded. BACKGROUND SUMMARY After James Lee Clark exhausted his first round of Texas State and U.S. Federal appeals, the State of Texas set Mr. Clark to be executed on November 21, 2002. Mr. Clark had been sentenced to death for the June 7, 1993 capital murder of 17-year old Shari Catherine Cari Keeler Crews in Denton County, Texas. Jesus Gilberto Garza, 16 years old, was killed along with Miss Crews. Mr. Clark's co-defendant James Richard Brown was tried for the capital murder of Mr. Garza, but was instead found guilty of robbery. NOTE: James Brown wasn't convicted of aggravated robbery, but simple robbery. Even though Miss Crews and Mr. Garza were murdered, the jury felt that Mr. Brown had not caused anyone serious bodily injury, nor had Mr. Brown used or exhibited a deadly weapon. However, in 2002 there was evidence that Mr. Clark is mentally retarded. Under U.S. Supreme Court decision Atkins v. Virginia the mentally retarded are ineligible for execution, and on November 18, 2002 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stayed that execution date, also ordering the original trial court to determine whether Mr. Clark was in fact mentally retarded. An application for Executive Clemency was filed on October 31, 2002. However, it was rendered mute when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued it's stay on November 18, 2002. A three day evidentiary hearing was held and on November 20, 2003 Lee Gabriel found that Mr. Clark is not retarded. [See Judge Gabriel's Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law] On March 3, 2004 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Judge Gabriel. [See Ex Parte James Lee Clark, WR-37,288-02.] Another execution date was set for April 27, 2004. Another application for Executive Clemency was filed on April 6, 2004 to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. It was unanimously denied on April 23, 2004. On April 23, 2004 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit stayed Mr. Clark's April 27th execution date because there was sufficient evidence that the State of Texas may have misapplied Atkins v. Virginia. The U.S. Court of Appeals ordered the U.S. District Court to determine whether Lee Gabriel and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals were correct to deny Mr. Clark's claim of mental retardation. On January 20, 2005, without having an evidentiary hearing, the U.S. District Judge David Folsom denied Mr. Clark his claim of mental retardation. [See Memorandum Opinion, Case No. 5:04cv124] On February 4, 2005 James Clark's attorney filed a Motion to Alter or Amend Judgment. On February 16, 2005 that Motion to Alter was denied. However, on March 16, 2005 the U.S. District Judge Folsom did grant Mr. Clark permission to appeal his claim of mental retardation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. [See Order Granting Application for Certificate of Appealability.] On July 20, 2006 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the ruling of the U.S. District Court and ultimately Texas District Judge Lee Gabriel. [See James Lee Clark v. Nathaniel Quarterman, Case No. 05-70008.] On August 2, 2006 James Clark's attorney filed a Petition for Rehearing En Banc, which was denied on August 29, 2006. Thus, and once again, Mr. Clark's claim of mental retardation was denied in spite of the fact that the only 2 psychologocial experts who thoroughly tested James Lee Clark found him mentally retarded. On November 21, 2006 James Clark's attorney filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the Supreme Court of the United States. On February 26, 2007 the Supreme Court denied James Clark's Petition for
