Feb. 9
TEXAS:
Montgomery County DA's Office requests new execution date for Swearingen
The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office asked a judge Tuesday to set a
Sept. 21 execution date for Larry Swearingen, the Willis man sentenced to death
for murdering a teenage Montgomery College student in 1998.
But Swearingen's attorney thinks an ongoing civil rights suit on his case
should be decided before any execution date is even suggested.
Swearingen was sentenced to death in 2000 for murdering Melissa Trotter, an
18-year-old Montgomery College student. Trotter went missing Dec. 8, 1998, and
was found dead in the Sam Houston National Forest north of LakeConroe.
After years of appellate fights over post-conviction DNA testing, Swearingen
filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the state of Texas in October 2016
claiming he should be entitled to that DNA testing. Swearingen sought testing
on Trotter's sexual assault collection kit; hairs recovered from her body, the
gloves used to move her body and a hairbrush found on the ground near her body;
all hairs collected from her clothing; the ligature and the pantyhose used to
strangle
Trotter, among other evidence his appellate attorneys believe contain
biological evidence that has not been tested.
"It's premature to even have filed this motion," said Swearingen's attorney
James Rytting, adding that he plans on filing a motion opposing the fall
execution date sometime soon.
The execution date motion will be decided upon by visiting Judge J.D. Langley
in the 9th state District Court. Judge Phil Grant, having previously worked on
the Swearingen case during his time with the DA's Office, was recused from the
case in June 2016.
But the DA's Appellate Division Chief Bill Delmore said the September date was
appropriate and intentionally selected.
"A September date will provide sufficient time to allow a resolution of the
civil suit," Delmore said. "I have not found anything that suggested the
existence of an appeal from the denial of a DNA motion should preclude going
forward on an execution date. I've even seen cases in which the Court of
Criminal Appeals has denied a stay (of execution) even when there's an appeal
from the denial of a motion for DNA testing pending."
As for the DNA testing, then-9th state District Court Judge Kelly Case approved
the testing in August 2014. But subsequent appeals filed by Montgomery County
prosecutors blocked it all the way to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Rytting appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court in February 2016, which
refused to hear the case in October 2016.
Swearingen has dodged four execution dates - in 2007, 2009, 2011 and most
recently in 2013 - that were all stayed by the Court of Criminal Appeals. He's
been in and out of the appellate process for more than a decade, including four
previous motions for DNA testing which lost their momentum in appeals courts
each time.
For Melissa Trotter's family, the September date cannot come soon enough.
"We're definitely ready to be done with all this judicial process," Melissa's
mother Sandy Trotter said. "It hinders all of us from healing as we just keep
remembering all the bad that happened to Melissa. It's unfinished business yet.
It's not going to bring Melissa back. We're never going to have her. But it'd
be better to remember the good memories than all this stuff that happened Dec.
8, 1998."
Langley had yet to rule on Delmore's motion as of Tuesday evening, court
records show. Swearingen's federal case in the U.S. District Court in the
Western District of Texas has yet to be resolved.
In an opinion in October 2015 reversing Judge Case's DNA ruling, the Court of
Criminal Appeals referred back to previous rulings it and lower appellate
courts had made in Swearingen's case. In the October 2015 ruling, they said
Rytting's motion did not meet the 5-pronged requirement for green-lighting DNA
tests in the appellate phase as outlined in the Texas Code of Criminal
Procedure.
Instead, the CCA denied Swearingen's appeal on the basis that he did not
provide new information that would show the DNA evidence would prove his
innocence. The court's concurring opinion also referenced a "mountain of
evidence" that originally convicted Swearingen in 2000. Delmore called the
evidence "overwhelming" in Tuesday's motion.
"Capital punishment is imposed discriminatorily against certain identifiable
classes of people; there is evidence that innocent people have been executed
before their innocence can be proved; and the death penalty wreaks havoc with
our entire criminal justice system."
----US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall
(source: Houston Chronicle)
************************
Texas needs to reform its 'law of parties,' which allows death penalty for
people who haven't killed anyone
On Monday, a Republican state representative from Plano, an avowed
conservative, will make a prison visit to see a death row inmate whose life he
wants spared.
If it seems a departure from political orthodoxy, it isn't: It's a case of
reason in the light of facts.
Rep. Jeff Leach, who has served on the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee,
says he is only one of a broader bipartisan legislative effort to re-examine
Texas' "law of parties" as it is applied in death penalty cases. In brief
terms, the law says that a co-defendant involved in a crime that results in a
murder is just as responsible, even if that defendant was not involved in the
actual killing.
Lawmakers have rallied around the case of death row prisoner Jeff Wood, who is
by no means a sterling character but who even police and prosecutors agree
never killed anyone. In 1996, Wood was sitting in a truck outside a Kerrville
convenience store when his friend went in, robbed the safe, and killed the
clerk.
Wood was sentenced to death under the law of parties, by which a jury decided
he should have anticipated that the murder would take place. Wood claimed that
he did not know his accomplice was armed or that a robbery was even planned.
The accomplice was executed for the clerk's murder in 2002. Wood has, to date,
received 2 stays of execution, and those arguing his case claim that his
sentence should be commuted to life in prison.
"I am a death penalty proponent," Leach said, in a make-no-mistake tone of
voice. "Having said that, if there needs to be reform to the way we apply it,
the Legislature ought not to be afraid to have those conversations."
To date, 10 people who did not commit the actual killings have been executed in
the U.S. under "parties" or similar laws. Half of them have been in Texas. In
some cases, the actual killer received a lesser sentence than the accomplice
who was put to death.
Reforming the law of parties' application to capital cases, Leach said, would
still leave laws intact to seek the death penalty for contract murders,
organized crime, or cases such as the "Texas 7," in which all the defendants
shared the intent to commit murder.
2 Democratic lawmakers - Terry Canales of Edinburg's HB 316 and Harold Dutton
of Houston's HB 147 - are also seeking reform to the statute. Leach, who has
not yet filed his bill but expects to work with Canales, said he expects
broader bipartisan support. Prosecutors, district attorneys, and defense
lawyers are also being included in the discussions, he said.
This measure is not about overturning the death penalty in Texas - which this
board has advocated - but about fine-tuning the way it is used.
"If we're going to continue to use the death penalty in Texas," Leach says, "We
need to use it only for the most heinous crimes."
Like residents across the country, Texans are divided over the death penalty.
But all can agree that where it is imposed, it should be reserved, as Leach
says, as the ultimate punishment for only the most dangerous offenders.
What you can do
Contact your legislator to register your support for HB 316, and urge lawmakers
to ensure that co-defendants who did not kill are not eligible for the death
penalty under the state's law of parties statute. To find out who represents
you and how to contact them, go to www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/Home.aspx and type
in your address.
Email forms are available on each lawmaker's website. Find them at
www.house.state.tx.us/members and www.senate.state.tx.us/directory.php.
'Law of parties' executions
Texas executions carried out under the "law of parties" statute since 1985:
Doyle Skillern: executed Jan. 16, 1985. Was waiting in a nearby car when his
accomplice - who received a life sentence with parole eligibility - shot and
killed an undercover narcotics officer.
G.W. Green: executed Jan. 12, 1991. Participated in a robbery in which an
accomplice shot and killed the homeowner. The shooter was also executed; a 3rd
accomplice received a life sentence.
Carlos Santana: executed April 23, 1993. Participated in an armored car robbery
in which his accomplice murdered a security guard. The accomplice was also
executed.
Jesse Gutierrez: executed Sept. 16, 1994. Gutierrez was party to a robbery in
which his brother killed the victim. The brother, Jose Gutierrez, was also
executed.
Robert Thompson: executed Jan. 19, 2009. During a Houston holdup, Thompson shot
and injured a store clerk. As the robbers fled, Thompson's accomplice shot a
2nd clerk, who was killed. The accomplice received a life sentence. Gov. Rick
Perry refused a recommendation by the Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles to
commute Thompson's sentence to life, as well.
[source: Death Penalty Information Center]
(source: Editorial, Dallas Morning News)
************************
When Your Lawyer Abandons You on Death Row
Another terrifying way the legal system screws the poor.
For 2 months, John Ramirez had been sitting in his cell in Texas's death row
prison, counting down the days to his execution date and scrawling handwritten
letters to anyone who would listen. His message: Get me a new lawyer.
Ramirez's execution was stayed last week just 2 days before he was scheduled to
die, after a federal judge ruled that his court-appointed lawyer had failed to
file a necessary clemency petition.
He's far from alone: Death row inmates around the country have faced the
ultimate punishment after court-appointed lawyers abandoned them, declining to
file motions or cutting off communication with their clients in the
high-tension, high-stakes last weeks before an execution. It's one example of
how America's criminal justice system remains skewed in terms of funding and
resources toward prosecutors and away from poor defendants.
Ramirez was sentenced to death in December 2008 for the murder of Pablo Castro
in Corpus Christi 4 years earlier, when he was 20. According to testimony at
his trial, Ramirez and 2 women attacked Castro in an attempt to rob him for
drug money, with Ramirez slashing his throat and stabbing him more than 20
times. He ended up with just $1.25 from Castro's pockets, and Ramirez wasn't
arrested until 3 1/2 years later near the Mexican border.
Now 32, Ramirez said in an interview with a local TV station last month that he
was remorseful for his actions, but hoped his appeals would lead to a life
sentence instead of an execution. "I was young and stupid and made a lot of bad
choices that night," he said. "I never meant to do that - I didn't go out
planning to take someone's life like that."
From the beginning, the man's legal representation has been lacking, to say the
least, even if his own instincts about how to ward off capital punishment were
suspect. At Ramirez's request, his attorney gave a closing argument at the
punishment phase of his trial that consisted of reading a single-sentence bible
verse: "For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Amen."
Even so, the jury deliberated for three and a half hours over whether to give
Ramirez death or a life sentence.
But the legal system's ugliest failure came when another, court-appointed
attorney named Michael Gross represented Ramirez in his state and federal
appeals, which were both unsuccessful. Last November, after his execution date
had been set for February 2, Ramirez sent Gross a letter firing him and asking
him to not file anything in his case. Meanwhile, Ramirez's godmother struggled
to find him a new lawyer.
But federal law makes clear that once an attorney is appointed, they have a
responsibility to represent their client all the way up to their execution,
including by filing clemency petitions. The only way to get out of that
responsibility is to go to the judge and have them substitute in a new lawyer.
Gross didn't do that. In a motion in federal court, he said that he attempted
to find a new lawyer for Ramirez but was unable to do so. The deadline for
Ramirez to file a clemency petition - January 12 - came and went without Gross
taking any action.
Finally, Ramirez's godmother got in touch with Gregory Gardner, another lawyer
who agreed to help, according to court records. Gardner filed multiple motions
in federal court 2 weeks ago, arguing that Gross had neglected his duties and
urging the judge to postpone Ramirez's execution and appoint a new lawyer.
Last Tuesday, just 2 days before Ramirez was scheduled to be executed, Judge
Nelva Gonzales Ramos agreed with Gardner's argument, staying Ramirez's
execution. "At the heart of this case is an inmate whose attorney neglected an
important legal obligation," she wrote. An appeals court upheld her decision on
Wednesday. Garner said he was heartened by the judge's ruling. "We're seeing
that the federal courts are not going to allow people to be executed when their
attorneys stopped working for them," he said.
This doesn't appear to be the 1st time Gross has let a client down just before
their execution. In March 2016, another of his clients, Texas death row inmate
John Battaglia, came within 7 hours of being executed before a court granted
him a reprieve, ruling that Battaglia had been "abandoned" by Gross, who failed
to file a key motion. In December, Battaglia got another stay of execution
after a state court found that he may not be mentally competent to be executed.
(Gross did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)
The Texas attorney general argued in court filings last week that Ramirez's
claim of lack of representation was a ruse to postpone his execution. They
pointed out that Gardner had intervened in both the Battaglia and Ramirez
cases: "This is not abandonment; it is gamesmanship," the state said in its
response in federal court. (The judge didn't buy it.)
Check out our documentary on debtors' prisons and America's for-profit justice
system.
Lawyers and professors who study capital punishment say it's hard to pinpoint
how many death row inmates are left high and dry by their lawyers when it
matters most. "It happens more than we would like to admit," said Kathryn Kase,
a senior counsel at the nonprofit criminal justice legal group Texas Defender
Service. "Sometimes there are attorneys available to step in, but there's not
always someone who has the capacity to do it."
For many years, attorneys in Texas (and other states) who were appointed to
defend death row inmates didn't get paid for any work they did after their last
appeal to the Supreme Court was denied, according to Kase. That meant that in
some cases, if they filed a clemency petition or made last-minute motions to
try to save their client's life, they'd essentially be working pro bono.
"Some attorneys make the decision that they would rather pay the rent than
fight what they feel will be a losing battle," Kase said, adding that the law
is now clear that this is not permitted.
And it's not just a Texas issue, although the state seems to have a
disproportionate number of cases that involve some form of lawyer abandonment.
"It is an outrageous and scandalous problem in the system," said Eric Freedman,
a Hofstra Law School professor who studies capital punishment. "There's no
question in the world that people are being killed under the radar screen
without adequate representation."
In some cases, like for both Ramirez and Battaglia, the fact that a lawyer
failed to fulfill their duties results in a last-minute reprieve for the
defendant. Similarly, Missouri inmate Mark Christeson received a stay of his
execution in 2014 based on a court decision that his lawyers, who filed a
federal appeal almost four months late, had failed him. (Christensen was
executed last week after another round of appeals.)
In other cases, courts let executions go ahead even when attorneys fail to do
their jobs. Raphael Holliday, another Texas inmate, was executed in November
2015 after his court-appointed lawyers said they would no longer represent him.
At one point, after Holliday tried to petition the court to give him a new
attorney, the appointed lawyers actually argued against their own client's
motion.
So what can be done about it? Part of the problem is funding, advocates say:
courts should offer more investigative cash to court-appointed attorneys, in an
attempt to promote strong representation. That could help avoid drawn-out
appeals over an ineffective counsel, and even end up saving money overall by
reining in attorney fees on both sides of cases. In the United States, budgets
for public defenders are typically fractions of the budget for prosecutors and
police investigators - state prosecutors spent almost $3.5 billion more than
public defenders' offices in 2007, Mother Jones reported.
In some courts, federal public defender offices also have specific "Capital
Habeas Units," teams of highly trained lawyers ready to represent death row
inmates in federal court. "You don't see this kind of abandonment occurring in
cases in which prisoners are represented by a Capital Habeas Unit," said Robert
Dunham, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. There's
no such unit in the federal circuit court covering Texas - even though, at
least until 2016, the state had executed more people than any other for
decades.
"No one should face the executioner without the benefit of counsel," Kase said.
"That's a bedrock value of the American justice system."
(source: vice.com)
*****************************
Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present----22
Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982----present-----540
Abbott#--------scheduled execution date-----name------------Tx. #
23---------March 7------------------Rolando Ruiz----------541
24---------March 14-----------------James Bigby-----------542
25---------April 12-----------------Paul Storey-----------543
26---------June 28------------------Steven Long-----------544
27---------July 19-----------------Kosoul Chanthakoummane---545
(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)
NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Expanding death penalty is the wrong move
Once again a small group of New Hampshire representatives has introduced
legislation to expand the use of the death penalty in our state. House Bill
351, if enacted, will make "a person who knowingly causes the death of a child
guilty of capital murder."
Taking the life of another human being is an unimaginable breach of human
decency. Taking the life of a child, who by virtue of their age, size and/or
ability is less able to defend him or herself, is that much more depraved. And
so it is understandable that the murder of a child triggers a highly emotional
response.
A highly charged environment, however, is not always conducive to a rational
deliberative search for justice. In the past couple of decades alone, there
have been a number of adults, including parents, convicted of killing young
children by shaking them in anger or frustration, only to have more recent
scientific and forensic studies cast doubt on the very concept of "shaken baby
syndrome." The very fact that we are so moved by such crimes, makes us that
much more susceptible to mistakes in judgment. Our legal system, at least in
theory, is quite enlightened and humane, but it is not infallible.
New Hampshire is the one remaining state in New England to allow the death
penalty by statute, although there has not been an actual execution in 77
years. Nationally the number of states that have repealed the death penalty has
steadily risen while the number of people executed has continued to decline.
Public opinion on this issue has shifted as well. Recent polls suggest that the
share of Americans who support the death penalty in cases of murder, is at the
lowest point in more than 4 decades.
The reasons for doing away with the death penalty are many. The expense of
death penalty cases is exorbitant. The one active case in process in New
Hampshire has cost more then $5 million over the past 10 years.
Mistakes are sometimes made, leading to the killing of innocent men and women.
Over 140 convicted death row inmates have been exonerated since 1973.
The death penalty is applied more frequently to people of color, particularly
in cases where victims are white.
And there is no good evidence that the death penalty serves as a deterrent to
would be murderers.
This is not the time to expand the death penalty in New Hampshire; rather, we
should be joining with states around the country and civilized nations all over
the world who have banned government-sanctioned killing.
The role of government should be to maintain freedoms, protect the vulnerable
and provide justice for all; never to take the lives of our fellow human
beings.
Joe Schapiro
288 Church St.
Keene
(source: Letter to the Editor, Keene Sentinel)
ALABAMA:
Bill to end judges' override on death sentences clears committee
A bill to remove from judges the authority to issue a death sentence after a
jury has recommended life in prison won approval today in the Alabama Senate
Judiciary Committee.
The bill cleared the committee on a 5-3 vote, with committee chairman Cam Ward,
R-Alabaster, casting the last and deciding vote.
Ward joined four Democrats in voting for the bill and said he thought it was
the right thing to do.
Sen. Dick Brewbaker, R-Montgomery, is sponsoring the bill. It moves to the full
Senate.
Alabama is the only remaining state that allows judges to override jury's
recommendations and issue a death sentence.
Brewbaker told the committee that from 2005 to 2015, judges overrode juries and
issued death sentences 23 times. 12 of those came in election years, which
Brewbaker said is a strong indication that politics was influencing the
decisions.
"Election cycles are influencing sentencing, and that can't be good," Brewbaker
said.
Voting in favor of the bill were Sens. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham;
Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile; Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro; Rodger
Smitherman, D-Birmingham, and Ward.
Voting no were Sens. Clay Scofield, R-Guntersville; Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia
and Phil Williams, R-Rainbow City.
Williams said it was wrong to assume that judges allowed their decisions to be
influenced by politics.
"The issue before us right now is do we believe in the sovereignty of the
jury," Williams said. "That's what the issue is. The issue cannot be that
someone is elected to an office therefore they must be corrupt and make bad
decisions because they were elected."
Brewbaker said it was not his intent to impugn the integrity of judges, but
said the numbers speak for themselves.
"I think if you look at it statistically, it's pretty clear the election cycle
is playing a role in this," Brewbaker said. "And I'm not trying to impugn an
officer of the court. I'm just saying they're involved in the political process
in exactly the same way legislators are."
Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, who has sponsored legislation to place restrictions
or repeal the death penalty for years, is sponsoring a bill similar to
Brewbaker's this year.
Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, has a similar bill in the House.
********************************
Suspect in Huntsville slayings of wife, son wants death penalty ruled
unconstitutional
A man pursuing an insanity defense in the fatal strangling his wife and young
son is asking a Madison County judge to dismiss 2 capital murder charges.
Stephen Marc Stone is asking Circuit Judge Donna Pate to dismiss the capital
indictments and rule Alabama's death penalty unconstitutional.
Stone is set to go on trial March 6 in the deaths of 7-year-old Zachary and
32-year-old Krista Stone. The victims were found dead Feb. 24, 2013, at their
home on Chicamauga Trail in south Huntsville.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
A paraplegic man who died in his daughter's arms and a 37-year-old fatally
beaten by her boyfriend are among north Alabama's homicide victims for whom
prosecutors hope to get justice in 2017.
Stone and his attorneys are arguing the state's death penalty sentencing
procedures violate the Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments as well as
Supreme Court decisions.
The defense argues that when the Supreme Court struck down Florida's death
penalty system in Hurst v. Florida, it also made Alabama's system
unconstitutional, according to court records.
"Florida's capital structure contained a fatal flaw: it allowed the Judge to
find the facts determinative of a life or death sentence," attorneys Brian
Clark and Larry Marsili wrote in a motion.
Because a judge ultimately decides whether to sentence a convict to death or
prison, the attorneys argue the law is unconstitutional.
In a capital trial when a guilty verdict is handed down, the jury votes on
whether a person should be sentenced to death or life without the possibility
of parole. However, the judge makes the final decision.
There has been much debate about Alabama's system since the Hurst decision.
Alabama is now the only state to allow judges to override jury recommendations
for life without parole and for those recommendations to be non-unanimous.
A hearing on pending motions in Stone's case is set for Friday at 11 a.m.
The judge also is expected to rule on a defense request for a mental evaluation
of Stone, who is seeking to prove himself not guilty by reason of mental
disease of defect.
An independent expert hired by the defense found Stone, 37, is not competent to
stand trial, court records show.
(source for both: al.com)
**************************
Baldwin County DA could seek death penalty against Mary Rice
Capital Murder suspect, Mary Rice will be brought back to the gulf coast for
prosecution. She's the alleged accomplice to William Boyette in the murders of
2 women and an accomplice - after the fact in 2 others. Because 1 of the
murders happened in Baldwin County and the others in Escambia County and Santa
Rosa County, Florida, there's still the question of where she will be
prosecuted.
State Attorney for Escambia County, Bill Eddins said Rice will first be charged
in Santa Rosa County. Baldwin County investigators have been working
hand-in-hand with their counterparts in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties
throughout this process and that will continue as either state County moves
forward with the prosecution.
A tip from an alert citizen in West Point, Georgia brought to an end a rash of
murders across 3 gulf coast counties over the last week. While the primary
suspect, William Boyette took his own life, his alleged accomplice, 37 year-old
Mary Rice was arrested. Baldwin County District Attorney, Bob Wilters is glad
that Rice will be returned to local authorities quickly.
"It would be very beneficial to the families of everybody involved, our
victims' families just to have a little bit of closure on this case, to kind of
know that the nightmare has ended," Wilters said.
While Boyette was thought to be responsible for the shooting deaths of four
women in 3 counties, investigators believe Rice played a key role in the last
2. 52 year-old, Peggy Broz was gunned down in the front yard of her Lillian
home Friday, February 3, 2017. Her car was stolen and recovered the next day in
Escambia County. Then, 28 year-old Kayla Crocker was shot at her Beulah home
the following Monday. Her car was also stolen. Wilters said there's been
ongoing cooperation between local jurisdictions and that that will continue
through the legal process. Regardless of where Rice is first taken, she will be
prosecuted by whoever has the best case against her.
"This is a case where we want to make sure that we start off with our best
case, whether it's here in Baldwin County or whether it's in Escambia County,
Florida," Wilters said. "This is something that we're not going to get in a
turf war over. Whoever's got the best case, that's the one we're going to go
with."
While the investigation into the murder of Peggy Broz is still ongoing, Wilters
said if what he finds warrants it, he could pursue the death penalty.
"We probably would, but we haven't made that decision at this point. To get a
death penalty, you have to have aggravating factors that outweigh the
mitigating factors," explained Wilters. "We'll have to take a look to see if we
do have those aggravating factors."
Since it's still an open investigation, Wilters couldn't go into many of the
facts or evidence that's been gathered in the Broz murder. He did say that no
matter what jurisdiction tries the case, he expects things to move forward
pretty quickly.
(source: WBRC news)
**********************
State senator proposes new option for death penalty----Senator proposes firing
squad
A state senator proposed a new bill Tuesday that would provide an alternate
option for the death penalty in Alabama.
Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Montrose, introduced a bill that would authorize execution
by firing squad. Pittman said he was inspired to introduce the bill by death
row inmate Tommy Arthur, who claims lethal injection is cruel and unusual.
The proposed bill would list a firing squad as an option, along with injection,
for criminals who are given the death penalty.
Oklahoma is the only state in the U.S. state that allows a firing squad. In
2015 Utah approved a firing squad as capital punishment, but only if lethal
injection drugs weren't available.
(source: WVTM news)
MISSISSIPPI:
House passes bill to allow firing squads in executions
The House passed a bill that could lead to the death penalty being carried out
by nitrogen gas, firing squad or electrocution.
The execution alternative methods in House Bill 638 would only come into play
if Mississippi's lethal injection protocol is ruled unconstitutional. Then each
of the other methods would be successive if one is ruled unconstitutional.
House Judiciary B Chairman Andy Gipson, R-Braxton, said the bill has the
support of Gov. Phil Bryant and Attorney General Jim Hood.
"I have a constituent whose daughter was raped and killed 25 years ago and the
person is still awaiting execution," Gipson said. "If we want to have the death
penalty, this bill will give us options."
Gipson said firing squads have been used in some states. He said electrocution
and gas have been used previously in Mississippi.
Rep. Chris Bell, D-Jackson, asked Gipson, who is a Baptist minister, what the
Bible says about grace and mercy and whether he believes in grace and mercy.
"I'm a big believer in mercy and grace," Gipson said. "Unfortunately, the death
penalty is necessary for those who commit atrocious crimes."
Rep. John Hines, D-Greenville, said a lot of people sentenced to death have
been found to be innocent.
The bill says if the current method of execution is held unconstitutional by a
court or is otherwise unavailable, then the sentence of death shall be carried
out by nitrogen hypoxia.
If lethal injection and nitrogen hypoxia are ruled unconstitutional or are
unavailable, then the sentence of death would be carried out by firing squad.
Then, if the other above methods are ruled unconstitutional or for some reason
are unavailable, the final method of carrying out an execution would be done by
electrocution.
Hood said his support for the bill is to remove the language that a certain
protocol has to be used to carry out lethal injections.
Since Mississippi joined the union in 1817, several forms of execution have
been used. Hanging was the 1st, according to the Mississippi Department of
Corrections. The state continued to execute prisoners sentenced to die by
hanging until Oct. 11, 1940, when Hilton Fortenberry, convicted of capital
murder in Jefferson Davis County, became the 1st prisoner to be executed in the
electric chair. Between 1940 and Feb. 5, 1952, the old oak electric chair was
moved from county to county to conduct executions. During the 12-year span, 75
prisoners were executed in the Magnolia State for offenses punishable by death.
In 1954, the gas chamber was installed at the State Penitentiary at Parchman,
according to MDOC. It replaced the electric chair, which is on display at the
Mississippi Law Enforcement Training Academy. Gearald A. Gallego became the
first prisoner to be executed by lethal gas on March 3, 1955. During the course
of the next 34 years, 35 death row inmates were executed in the gas chamber. On
June 21, 1989, Leo Edwards became the last person to be executed in the gas
chamber at thePenitentiary. On July 1, 1984, the Mississippi Legislature
partially amended lethal gas as the state's form of execution. The amendment
provided that individuals who committed capital punishment crimes after the
effective date of the new law and who were subsequently sentenced to death
would be executed by lethal injection. On March 18, 1998, the Legislature
amended the manner of execution by removing the lethal gas provision as the
alternate form of execution. Since 2002, 17 death row inmates have died by
lethal injection.
The last time Mississippi executed a death row inmate was 2012. Since then, a
federal lawsuit over the drug protocol used in executions, combined with
motions before the state Supreme Court, have left a question mark as to when
the next execution might occur. 47 inmates remain on death row.
(source: Clarion-Ledger)
**************************
Mississippi considers firing squad execution method in response to lawsuits by
'liberal, left-wing radicals'
Politicians in Mississippi are advancing a proposal to add firing squad,
electrocution and gas chamber as execution methods in case a court blocks the
use of lethal injection drugs.
Republican representative Andy Gipson said House Bill 638 is a response to
lawsuits by "liberal, left-wing radicals".
The bill passed the House amid opposition on Wednesday, and moves to the
senate.
Lethal injection is Mississippi's only execution method.
The state faces lawsuits claiming the drugs it plans to use would violate
constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment.
Mississippi has not been able to acquire the execution drugs it once used, and
it last carried out an execution in 2012.
The Death Penalty Information Centre said of the 33 US states with the death
penalty, only Oklahoma and Utah have firing squad as an option.
(source: breakingnews.ie)
KENTUCKY:
Lawmakers Seeking to Abolish Death Penalty Cite Cost, Morality, Mistakes
Saying it's about the soul of Kentucky, Rep. Jason Nemes is filing legislation
to abolish the death penalty.
2 chambers. 2 lawmakers from different parties. Similar bills. Republican
Representative Jason Nemes and Democrat Senator Gerald Neal are both filing
legislation Tuesday in the Kentucky General Assembly to abolish the death
penalty.
Saying he wants to "stand for life," Nemes, a conservative lawmaker from
Louisville, says his bill is "about the soul of Kentucky" and for him, "a
matter of faith."
"If I believe that Jesus wouldn't do it, I don't think my government ought to
do it either and I understand there are differences," he said.
Senator Neal, also from Louisville, says like the Nemes bill, his legislation
would eliminate execution as one of the five penalties now available to a jury
in a death penalty case, making life without the possibility of parole the
maximum sentence. The Legislature has repeatedly rejected that idea, with many
proponents of capital punishment saying it deters crime.
Nemes, who describes himself as a "law and order guy," says his stance is also
about the proper role of government. He says he fears Kentucky's death penalty
system will make a mistake and that's not something he's willing to live with.
"I believe that our government has the right to take someone's life or liberty,
only to the extent necessary to protect us," Nemes explained. "And I'm strongly
in favor of life without the possibility of parole, not even coming up for a
question for parole."
Since 1973, 157 people have been exonerated from death row in America,
including one in Kentucky, yet execution remains legal in 31 states.
Neal says while lawmakers often cite morality or the "broken system" for their
opposition, it's because of the cost of the death penalty that many lawmakers
have "second thoughts..."
"In fact, [they] find it not acceptable to pay for that process when they
understand that it costs more to execute a person than it is to incarcerate
them for life," Neal said.
(source: WMKY news)
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