[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., ALA., TENN., MO., CALIF., USA
July 17 TEXAS: Execution Alert -- Call to Action for Larry Swearingen Larry Swearingen is scheduled to be murdered by the State of Texas on August 21st, 2019. Larry Swearingen was sentenced to death although no biological material recovered from the scene contained any conclusive link. Always protesting innocence, Larry Swearingen is now facing his 6th execution date. Actions: * Texas residents, please send a letter to Governor Greg Abbott telling him to STOP this execution via the 'Speak Out' page on the NCADP website * Contact Texas Governor Greg Abbott by phone at: 512-463-2000, by email via this link, or by tweet @GregAbbott_TX If you prefer to send a letter, here is the mailing address: Office of the Governor, State Insurance Building, 1100 San Jacinto, Austin, TX 78701 * If you live in Texas, write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. * Please share this information with your friends, especially those in Texas, and ask them to help STOP the execution of Mr. Swearingen by taking one of the actions listed above. In addition, here is a link to some general talking points to help you in your advocacy efforts, as well as a recent news article that talks about the decline in support the death penalty is receiving. Lastly, take a listen to 'Power Corrupts' the new podcast from political scientist and Washington Post columnist Brian Klaas. The episode 'An Eye for an Eye' explores Nick Yarris, who spent 22 years on death row, but right before scheduled execution DNA evidence set him free. NCADP's Gregory Joseph joins this episode to explore questions of whether a just society can execute people, racial bias and the arbitrary nature of death sentences. Please check the NCADP website in the days to come to stay informed of any new developments in this case. National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty www.ncadp.org NCADP 80 M St, SE, c/o WeWork, Washington, DC 20036 www.ncadp.org (source: NCADP) * Former statewide judge leaves GOP, citing Trump’s racism Citing what she called President Donald Trump’s racist ideology, Elsa Alcala, a retired Republican judge on the state’s highest criminal court, announced on Facebook that she can no longer support the GOP and has left the party. “It has taken me years to say this publicly but here I go. President Trump is the worst president in the history of this country,” Alcala wrote Monday. “Even accepting that Trump has had some successes — and I believe these are few — at his core, his ideology is racism. To me, nothing positive about him could absolve him of his rotten core.” Appointed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals by Gov. Rick Perry in 2011, Alcala spent 20 years as a GOP judge, also serving in a trial court and intermediate appeals court. She was one of two Latinas to serve in recent years on the state’s two highest courts, the other being Justice Eva Guzman, currently on the Texas Supreme Court. Alcala left the criminal court at the end of 2018. Alcala said Trump’s behavior, including a recent tweet suggesting that four Democratic congresswomen of color should “go back” to the countries they came from, combined with state and national Republican Party support for the president, weighed on her conscience. “Every day with the Republican Party seemed worse than the day before. Trump speaks about brown people like me as lesser beings,” Alcala told the American-Statesman on Tuesday. “It’s cliche to say, but the Republican Party left me.” Trump, Alcala said, seeks to exclude “people who look like me.” “I thought that maybe Texas state politics at the Legislature might be better than the national Republican politics, but it was more of the same,” she said. James Dickey, chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, issued a statement thanking Alcala for her service. “We are sorry that she has chosen to no longer support the party that supported her, her colleagues and her successors,” Dickey said, adding that the booming Texas and national economies prove that Republican policies work. “Democrats are promoting extremist schemes with the inevitable tragic consequences that have destroyed every socialist economy ever put into place. We encourage every Texan to ensure a bright future and greater opportunity for all by continuing to vote for Republican leadership,” Dickey said. During her time on the Court of Criminal Appeals, Alcala made news with a 2016 opinion that said it was time for a closer look at the constitutional issues behind the death penalty. Although she expressed no opinion on whether the death penalty was constitutional, Alcala said that several death row inmates have raised compelling arguments that the court should address, including whether confinement in a 60-square-foot cell was cruel or whether the death penalty is unconstitutional because it disproportionately affects minorities. On Facebook, Alcala said she
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., ALA., LA., OHIO, ILL., OKLA., NEB., COLO.
May 15 TEXASimpending execution San Antonio lovers' lane killer denied clemency, both appeals 2 days before scheduled execution Death row inmate Juan Castillo lost two appeals and was denied clemency on Monday. Now, he's scheduled to die Wednesday in the Huntsville execution chamber. Through 15 years of darkness, June Castillo has seen flashes of hope. Once, a man showed up at her door claiming to have proof of her son's innocence. Another time, a stranger called to offer an apology from the "real" killer. There were the whispered prayers, and the cancelled executions. "You get so scared," she said. "The bad days come and you think, 'What am I going to do?' And then there's the good days - and then the devil hits again." And that's what it felt like on Monday when the 73-year-old's son - death row inmate Juan Castillo - was denied a bid for clemency, and lost 2 different late-stage appeals. Now, the condemned lovers' lane killer is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Wednesday. "It is deeply disappointing," Castillo's clemency lawyer Greg Zlotnick said late Monday, urging the governor to issue a 30-day reprieve so a legal team can continue fighting the case in court. The now-37-year-old was sent to death row in 2005 for the slaying of rapper Tommy Garcia, Jr. t2 years earlier. Prosecutors said Castillo and three others had teamed up to plan a robbery in a deserted San Antonio lovers' lane. It was Castillo's girlfriend, Debra Espinosa, who lured the 19-year-old musician to a secluded spot with the promise of sex and drugs, according to court filings. 2017 did not see a new low in executions, though they're still down significantly over past years. As they sat in the car making out, 2 men in ski masks - later identified as Castillo and his friend Francisco Gonzales - stormed the Camaro. They tore Garcia from the vehicle and Castillo shot him 7 times, according to court records. Afterward, Espinosa ran to a nearby house and started banging on the door for help. She and Gonzales were picked up not far from the scene. They both agreed to testify in exchange for a reduced sentence, while the 4th suspect - Gonzales' girlfriend Teresa Quintero - netted a 20-year term for robbery. But Castillo has long maintained that he didn't do it. In fact, he said, he wasn't even there. Before trial, he said he spent the night with a friend - though the man never agreed to testify, according to court records. And in the years since his conviction, some pieces of the case have become a little hazier. Investigators never had forensic evidence tying him to the scene, and one of the key witnesses against him - a jailhouse informant - recanted his testimony. In recent months, defense lawyers made that recantation a cornerstone of their appeals, including one that won him a stay of execution. But when the case was sent back to a lower court, the judge rejected it within a day, before the defense had a chance to weigh in. Last week, attorneys entered a filing poking holes in two other state witnesses and accusing prosecutors of withholding evidence. But on Monday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals turned down that claim, hours after the Supreme Court rejected an appeal centered on the recanted testimony. Amanda Marzullo of Texas Defender Services, the non-profit legal group handling his appeals, expressed dismay at Monday's court outcomes. "There are serious issues with his case, which was no court has given meaningful review," she said. Wednesday's execution date is Castillo's 4th in a year. Last May's date was rescheduled after prosecutors failed to give 90-day notice to the defense. Then, a September execution was pushed back in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, and a December death date was called off in light of the jailhouse snitch. "I have cried so doggone much for the past month," June Castillo said. "I can't cry anymore." As of Monday evening, there were no pending appeals in the case. If everything continues as scheduled, Castillo will be the 6th man executed in Texas this year - and his mother plans to be there to watch. (source: Houston Chronicle) Texas inmate set to die this week loses Supreme Court appeal A 36-year-old San Antonio man set for execution this week for a robbery-slaying more than 14 years ago has lost an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Attorneys for Juan Castillo argued his due process rights were violated related to trial testimony from a jail inmate who said Castillo, while locked up awaiting trial, told him about killing 19-year-old Tommy Garcia Jr. The inmate years later recanted his testimony, submitting an affidavit saying he made up the story. State courts ruled the affidavit wasn't credible and the Supreme Court Monday declined to review Castillo's arguments. Castillo is set for execution Wednesday in Huntsville. The high court Monday also declined an
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., ALA., MISS., OHIO, KY.
Nov. 2 TEXASimpending execution Death Watch: Forced Testimony Over Evidence?No physical evidence implicates Cardenas in his cousin's murder Ruben Cardenas, a Mexican national convicted of capital murder for kidnapping, raping, and killing his 16-year-old cousin in McAllen, is scheduled for execution on Nov. 8, but his fight is far from over. This week, Cardenas' legal team, led by Maurie Levin and funded by the Mexican government, filed 2 appeals with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: one to reverse the Hidalgo District Court's Oct. 25 decision to deny DNA testing, the other seeking relief and a new hearing. Stories vary about Mayra Laguna's Feb. 22, 1997, abduction, but a 2016 interview with KRGV/Channel 5 News has Cardenas saying that his cousin asked him to fake her kidnapping and take her away. He said he drove her outside of town, where they got into a fight about her wanting to marry him and began hitting each other. "By the time I knew it, she was already just laying there," he said. In a panic, he dumped her body in a canal. According to his appeals, however, there was no physical evidence linking Cardenas to the crime - including no forensic evidence of sexual assault. Instead, prosecutors relied primarily on statements Cardenas made after his arrest. Levin writes: "His conviction and death sentence bear all the indicia of a wrongful conviction, including questionable eyewitness testimony, coerced, uncounseled confessions, and unreliable forensic evidence." Further, Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program director Greg Kuykendall insists that as a Mexican national, Cardenas had a right to consult with Mexico's consulate for legal advice and representation under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. But Cardenas was never informed of that right after his arrest, nor was the consulate alerted. It took the state 11 days to appoint Cardenas' legal counsel; during that time, Kuykendall said, Cardenas' Miranda rights were "violated and he confessed." The consulate didn't learn of the charges against Cardenas until 5 months later. Kuykendall says Mexico has been "deeply involved in the case ever since, but a significant amount of damage" had already been done. Should his appeals be denied, Cardenas would be the 7th Texan executed in 2017. Executions have been largely unpredictable this year: Larry Swearingen was scheduled for Nov. 16 (and still is, according to the Department of Criminal Justice website), but the Houston Chronicle reported on Sunday that his execution had been stayed now that both sides have agreed to DNA testing. (Swearingen was convicted of the 1998 rape and murder of Melissa Trotter, but maintains he's innocent.) If Swearingen's name sounds familiar it's because he's partially responsible for Anthony Shore's 90-day stay last month. The state believes Shore colluded with Swearingen and was planning to claim responsibility for Trotter's murder. Meanwhile, Juan Castillo, whose August execution was delayed due to Hurricane Harvey, is back on the clock with a new execution date, Dec. 14. He's the last person scheduled to die by the state's hand in 2017. (source: The Austin Chronicle) *** Mexican national set for execution in Texas files last-minute appeal over DNA testing A Mexican national set to die by lethal injection next week in Huntsville is begging courts for a stay of execution as part of a last-minute appeal over DNA testing in a case that has sparked pushback from south of the border. A lawyer for Ruben Cardenas Ramirez filed papers Monday in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals seeking to reverse a lower court's refusal to allow testing on fingernail scrapings from 16-year-old Mayra Laguna, who was murdered and tossed in a canal in 1997. Her cousin, a high-school dropout born in Mexico and raised in Texas, later admitted to the crime and was sentenced to death. But his lawyers argue the confessions were coerced and potentially exculpatory DNA evidence should be looked at before his Nov. 8 execution. "His conviction and sentence of death were obtained through the use of unreliable, coerced and false evidence, and DNA testing that is meaningless by today's scientific standards," attorney Maurie Levin wrote in Monday's filing. (source: Associated Press) *** Execution date set for Battaglia An execution date has been set for a man who shot his 2 daughters at his Deep Ellum loft in 2001 while their mother helplessly listened on the phone. John Battaglia, 62, is scheduled to be executed Feb. 1 in Huntsville. He had sought to delay or stop his lethal injection bysaying he was not mentally competent. But after a hearing last November, state District Judge Robert Burns found he was competent, and the Court of Criminal Appeals agreed. Battaglia shot and killed 9-year-ol Faith and 6-year-old Liberty in an act of revenge against hie ex-wife. "No,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., ALA., IND., S.DAK., COLO.
Dec. 15 TEXAS: Accused killer's lawyer is using former Dallas DA's mental illness in an attempt to torpedo case A Dallas defense attorney is using the mental illness of former District Attorney Susan Hawk in an attempt to change the course of a legal case that could end with his client's execution. Mentally ill Army veteran Erbie Bowser is accused of killing 4 - including his estranged wife and girlfriend - and wounding 4 others with a hand grenade and by firing a gun until he ran out of bullets. Hawk sought the death penalty in his case before she resigned to focus on her mental health. Jury selection is supposed to begin in January. Bowser's attorney says in a court records filed this week that Hawk's public statements "diminishing the significance of mental illness" made her the wrong person to decide whether to seek the death penalty against a man who suffers from mental health problems. He is hoping incoming District Attorney Faith Johnson will see the case differently and is asking the judge to delay the case. It's unclear whether more attorneys will use Hawk's mental illness, which caused erratic behavior and frequent absences, in their own cases. Bowser's attorney, Brad Lollar, declined to comment but wrote extensively about his concerns in court records. "And despite her personal struggles, Judge Hawk repeatedly diminished the significance of mental health in public statements, referring to it as a 'crutch' and an excuse," Lollar wrote in a court filing. "Hawk's public statements diminishing the significance of mental illness particularly calls into question whether she could fairly exercise discretion to seek the death penalty in this case, where a central mitigating circumstance is Mr. Bowser's own lengthy and well-documented history of mental illness," he wrote. Johnson on Wednesday expressed an interest in speaking to Lollar about the case. She will be sworn in Jan. 2. "I heard the defense attorneys were wanting to speak with me, and I'm waiting to be contacted," she said. The DA's office, currently run by First Assistant District Attorney Messina Madson, did not respond to a request for comment. Hawk could not immediately be reached for comment. Prior to Hawk's resignation, she strived to be district attorney and to get mental health treatment. But she was hospitalized 3 times while in office. She worked fewer than 70 days before she resigned in September. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Thursday before state District Judge Tracy Holmes. Whether Lollar's motion finds any traction is uncertain. Attorney John Tatum, who regularly works on death penalty cases, said he's never seen anything like it. "It's novel. If it saves a guy's life, people would say it has merit," Tatum said. "It would definitely be controversial." Lollar wrote in court records that Dallas prosecutors aren't seeking the death penalty in any other pending case, including one where a man is accused of stabbing to death his wife, her father and stepfather and injuring his sister-in-law. Special prosecutors, appointed because of a conflict in the DA's office, recently offered a plea agreement of life without parole in a case where a man is accused of killing three and shooting a fourth in the head, court records show. Each was stabbed multiple times. "Judge Hawk had a personal interest in diminishing the significance of mental illness to retain her position as district attorney," Lollar wrote. "Under these circumstances, she could not fairly exercise appropriate prosecutorial discretion in this case." Bowser, he said, has not been able to "meaningfully" negotiate a plea agreement because Hawk's absences were followed by months without a district attorney. Night of the murders The August 2013 rampage began at a Dallas home near West Wheatland Road and Mountain Creek Parkway. Police said Bowser killed his girlfriend, 43-year-old Toya Smith, and her 17-year-old daughter, Tasmia Allen. Smith's 14-year-old son and Dasmine Mitchell, a 17-year-old family friend, were injured. Police believe Bowser then went to the DeSoto home of his estranged wife, Zina Bowser, where he threw a hand grenade into the living room before shooting and killing her and a 2nd woman, 28-year-old Neima Williams, police said. The explosion blew out the walls and some windows. He also wounded two boys, ages 11 and 13, before he ran out of bullets, according to police. When DeSoto officers arrived, Bowser seemed catatonic, giving only his name, military rank and a serial number. Police said he was pretending to be one of the victims, but his attorney says in court records that the behavior was related to his mental illness and medication. "His behavior indicates dissociation at the time of the arrest and this 'altered mental status on arrest' is substantiated by observations of emergency room doctors at Parkland Hospital. When Mr. Bowser was brought
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., ALA.
Nov. 8 TEXAS: Dallas man on death row loses appeal for a 2nd time A Dallas man on death row lost an appeal Monday to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 2nd time. Ivan Cantu was sentenced to death in Collin County in the killing of his cousin in 2001. The federal appeals court rejected Cantu's argument that his legal help was deficient for failing to investigate and present evidence that he was innocent. Cantu was convicted of capital murder in the death of 27-year-old James Mosqueda and indicted in the death of his cousin's girlfriend, 22-year-old Amy Kitchen, according to the Dallas Morning News archives. A former girlfriend testified that Cantu told her he planned to kill Mosqueda and that he showed her the bodies, which were found at the couple's home in Far North Dallas. (source: Dallas Morning News) PENNSYLVANIA: Attorneys for alleged Pa. CO killer file multiple motions Attorneys for Jessie Con-ui filed motions seeking to bar a judge from allowing evidence in the murder trial With less than 6 months until reputed gang member and convicted killer Jessie Con-ui is scheduled to face trial on charges he murdered a local corrections officer, attorneys on Monday filed multiple motions seeking to bar a judge from allowing evidence. Con-ui, 39, could face the death penalty if convicted next year for the murder of 34-year-old Corrections Officer Eric Williams. Prosecutors allege Con-ui brutally murdered the Nanticoke native inside U.S. Penitentiary Canaan in Wayne County in 2013. Con-ui, allegedly angered over a cell search, blindsided the unarmed Williams and kicked him down a prison stairwell before stabbing him to death, prosecutors say. President Barack Obama in March signed into law a bill named after Williams that armed federal corrections officers with pepper spray. Prosecutors first announced their intent to seek the death penalty against Con-ui on Oct. 2, 2014. The motion claimed Con-ui, an alleged member of the New Mexican Mafia and convicted first-degree murderer, presents a future danger "because of low potential for rehabilitation and lack of remorse." Additionally, Con-ui should be sentenced to death because of his participation in additional acts of violence that went uncharged, prosecutors said. Four motions, filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa, seek to prohibit certain evidence should a jury convict Con-ui and be required to consider the death penalty, while Con-ui???s attorneys seek to quash evidence as well. Federal prosecutors' motions ask to: Preclude execution impact evidence Prosecutors are seeking to limit what evidence Con-ui can enter regarding the effect his death would have on his loved ones. They say testimony that he is beloved by family and friends, the negative impact the death penalty would have on them and any pleas for mercy "are not relevant to (Con-ui's) character or his personal culpability for the charged murders." "Just as victim impact witnesses are not permitted to cry out for death, execution impact witnesses must not be allowed to cry out for life," prosecutors wrote. Preclude comparative proportionality evidence and arguments Prosecutors are seeking to prevent Con-ui from comparing the facts of his case to other similar cases, including capital punishment cases. Preclude prison culture evidence and Bureau of Prisons (BOP) contributory negligence claim Presenting evidence Con-ui was treated unfairly in prison or the BOP failed to respond to the murder scene in a timely manner is not relevant to a mitigating factor and would confuse and prejudice a jury, prosecutors say. They ask a judge to ban such evidence. Preclude unsworn allocution Prosecutors ask a judge to prohibit an unsworn statement to the jury in which the defendant can ask for mercy, explain his or her conduct, apologize for the crime, or say anything else in an effort to lessen the impending sentence, according to the motion. Prosecutors argue Con-ui does not have the constitutional or statutory right to make such statements. Defense motions Con-ui's attorneys, meanwhile, seek to prevent prosecutors from showing video of Williams" murder "as well as emotionally-fraught and unfairly prejudicial post-mortem photographs of (Williams') body" during the guilt and penalty phases of his trial. Additionally, attorneys David A. Ruhnke, James A. Swetz and Mark F. Fleming request a judge prohibit evidence regarding Con-ui's other alleged acts of violence, including an assault on a fellow inmate inside another prison and an alleged 2003 plan to participate in multiple murders. Con-ui's trial is slated to begin April 24. (source: correctonsone.com) ALABAMA: What's next for Tommy Arthur after escaping execution 7th time? As the clock ticked towards 6 p.m. last Thursday, death row inmate Tommy Arthur began to think he wouldn't survive the seventh time Alabama was set to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., ALA., UTAH, CALIF.
March 25 TEXAS: Texas Prison Agency Replenishes Execution Drug Supply Texas prison officials have acquired a small supply of pentobarbital to replenish their dwindling inventory of the execution drug so lethal injections set for next month can be carried out. Four condemned inmates are set to die in April. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice had enough pentobarbital for only the first one, scheduled for April 9. Spokesman Jason Clark said Wednesday the agency now has a sufficient amount of the sedative for the other 3. Pharmaceutical companies, under pressure from death penalty opponents, have stopped selling U.S. prisons drugs for lethal injections. So Texas, the nation's most active capital punishment state, and other states have turned to compounding pharmacies for made-to-order drugs. As in the past, prison officials are refusing to identify the provider of the new supply. (source: Associated Press) PENNSYLVANIA: Pa. has good reasons to hesitate in using the death penalty I am a senior high school student writing with concern regarding Pennsylvania's use of capital punishment. Having recently become an adult, I support both Senator Greenleaf's sponsored bill seeking a study of death penalty efficacy and Gov. Wolf's commitment to staying executions pending investigation. I am concerned about the lack of evidence supporting executions, as well as questions of ethical merit, disparity of usage, irrevocability, and degree of deterrence. Even if we remove the subjective ethical argument from the equation, from an economic standpoint alone, the death penalty is not a practical method of punitive recourse in today's society. Author Dan Brooks of Common Dreams News reports that, due to the added costs associated with trials, appeals, and security, death penalty cases are 3 times more costly than life-without-parole. News columnist Gary Alvord of the Economist Online states that, of the 3,082 condemned prisoners in United States in 2011, only 43 were executed. The majority will die of natural causes, yet society supports their incarceration at a far greater cost on death row. Life-without-parole is effective in keeping violent criminals incarcerated, and it does so at a lower cost while retaining recourse for those later proven innocent. This is particularly pertinent to the 144 death-row prisoners who have been exonerated nationwide. I am pleased to live in a state that reflects collective hesitancy by not having executed an inmate since 1999. I strongly urge joining the civilized ranks of 139 countries that have deemed capital punishment to be cruel and unusual and have abolished the costly and ineffective practice. MEGAN GROSSMAN, Silver Spring Twp. (source: Letter to the Editor, pennlive.com) *** In new poll, Pa. residents narrowly support Wolf's death penalty moratorium Prosecutors, cops and crime victims may not be fans, but a majority of respondents to a new poll say they're behind Gov. Tom Wolf's decision to halt executions in Pennsylvania while a special commission studies society's ultimate sanction. 50 % of respondents to a new Public Policy Poll commissioned by a York College criminal justice professor offer full or partial support for the moratorium, compared to 44 % who oppose it and the 5 % who say they're unsure. Hewing to national trends, a clear majority (54 %) say they prefer some version of life in prison to the death penalty. Just 42 % of the 632 state voters in the poll said the death penalty was their preferred method of punishment. Pennsylvania currently has more than 180 men and women on death row. But the state has not executed a condemned inmate since 1999. Debate over capital punishment flared anew earlier this year with the capture and arrest of accused cop-killer Eric Frein. Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, who, like Wolf, is a Democrat, is suing in state court to have the moratorium overturned, arguing that Wolf overstepped his authority. Earlier this month, a group of Republican lawmakers also introduced a non-binding resolution calling on Wolf to rescind the moratorium. (source: pennlive.com) ALABAMA: 2 execution methods that don't involve Yellow Mama or lethal injection: Utah and Oklahoma options Alabama's Legislature recently cleared the way for its electric chair known as Yellow Mama to return if the state can't secure the drugs needed for lethal injections. Alabama is not alone - the lack of drugs used in executions has promoted delays across the country. Earlier this month, Alabama agreed to suspend executions until after the U.S. Supreme Court issues its ruling on lethal injection procedures and drug combinations. The delays and issues have states looking around for solutions. Here are 2: Firing squad Like Alabama, Utah has found itself struggling to secure drugs needed for lethal injections. While Alabama has
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., ALA., KAN., CALIF.
Nov. 5 TEXAS: Texas court overturns man's death sentence due to withheld evidence Alfred Dewayne Brown???s conviction for 2003 murder of Houston police officer overturned on appeal after record of phonecall made on morning of shooting emerges The murder conviction of a man on death row in Texas has been overturned after the state's criminal appeals court found prosecutors withheld evidence that could have aided his defense. Alfred Dewayne Brown was convicted of murdering a Houston police officer in a 2003 shooting that was allegedly a three-man robbery gone wrong. A jury sentenced Brown to death in 2005 on the insistence of Harris County prosecutors, who will now decide whether to re-try Brown, according to the Houston Chronicle, which has covered the case extensively. The decision from the Texas court of criminal appeals to send the case back to a lower court comes more than one year after the original trial judge Mark Kent Ellis requested Brown receive a new trial, even asking the appeal court to Please hurry, according to the Chronicle. The decision to overturn Brown's conviction hinged on evidence of a phonecall. The Pittsburgh-based defense firm KL Gates searched for six years for records of a call Brown said he made on the morning of the murder. Prosecutors said he and his alleged fellow conspirators were watching news coverage of the robbery at about 10am on 3 April 2003. Brown said he was at his girlfriend's apartment and had made a phonecall to her employer. A record of the call was eventually found when a homicide detective was cleaning out his garage last year. The find was not only potentially exonerating, but also a violation of a guiding principle of prosecutorial conduct, called a Brady violation. The Brady case precedent requires prosecutors to turn over evidence to defense attorneys. Prosecutors said the failure was a mistake, not malicious. Prosecutors are not saying whether they will re-try Brown's case. Harris County district attorney Devon Anderson would carefully review and evaluate the case to determine the appropriate proceedings, said her spokesperson, Jeff McShan. (source: The Guardian) ** Republicans remain in control of state's 2 highest courts Republicans retained their near lock on judgeships on the state's 2 highest courts Tuesday, winning all 4 contested races in the Supreme Court and all three places on the Court of Criminal Appeals. In Supreme Court races, all the incumbents were declared victors by the Associated Press early in the evening, keeping the state's highest civil court completely in Republican hands. The winners were Nathan Hecht, chief justice; Jeff Brown, justice Place 6; Jeff Boyd, justice Place 7; and Phil Johnson, justice Place 8. For the Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest criminal court, it appeared late Tuesday that Republican incumbents would hold on to all 3 open positions, giving the party control of eight of the nine seats on the court. Winners were Kevin Yeary, Place 4; and David Newell, Place 9. With 42 % of the vote counted, Bert Richardson was leading the race for judge Place 3 with 60 %. The Appeals Court hears all death penalty appeals in the state and decides which other criminal cases to review. For Texans, the GOP control of the Supreme Court means that rulings favoring corporations and big businesses over individuals are likely to continue. This trend was strengthened under the tenure of conservative Republican Gov. Rick Perry, who was able to appoint 10 conservative justices to the court during his tenure. (source: mysanantonio.com) PENNSYLVANIA: Trial opens for man accused in Pennsylvania woman's death, dismemberment A former electrical contractor at the Tobyhanna Army Depot in eastern Pennsylvania went on trial Wednesday on charges he beat, strangled and dismembered a woman whose body parts were stuffed into garbage bags and strewn along 2 interstate highways. Jurors in the trial of Charles Ray Hicks, 40, were warned by the prosecution they would hear gruesome details and see graphic pictures during the trial in Monroe County Court in Stroudsburg, which is expected to last about 2 weeks. Hicks is facing a potential death penalty, if convicted, and is being held without bail. This case is a journey to the darkest inner recesses of the human soul, lead prosecutor Michael Mancuso said in his opening statement. Mancuso outlined how the investigation started with the discovery of a severed head and other body parts in black garbage bags by state highways crews on a snowy day in January 2008. The prosecutor also recounted how state police eventually arrested Hicks on first-degree murder charges, among others, after finding the hands of Deanna Null, 36, wrapped in socks and newspaper, hidden behind a wall in his home in the Pocono Mountains. Mancuso said the prosecution will present expert witness
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., ALA., KY., USA
Oct. 6 TEXAS: Toddler death case: Jury selection this week Jury selection is scheduled this week in a potential death penalty capital murder case, involving the 2011 death of a 2-year-old child. A final pretrial hearing in the case against Arturo Aguilar Vega is scheduled Monday morning in the 354th District Court. A general jury pool setting is scheduled Wednesday and individual juror interviews is set to begin on October 13. A trial date will be announced once a jury is chosen in the case. Vega has pleaded not guilty in the death of Brandon Herrera and is the 1st of 2 defendants charged in the case to face trial. New indictments against Vega and Gabriela Ortiz were released March 28 and include several more potential causes of Herrera's death in July 2011. Vega and Ortiz both remain in custody in the Hunt County Jail, each in lieu of $2 million bond. The Hunt County District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty for Vega and for Ortiz, should they be convicted of capital murder. The original indictments filed against the pair claimed Herrera died as the result of either blunt force trauma, choking/strangling or smothering. The new indictments include additional potential causes of Herrera's death, including blunt force trauma, chronic blunt force trauma, choking/strangling, smothering, causing the victim to be dehydrated, causing Herrera to suffer malnutrition, suffocation and/or arrhythmia. Ortiz does not currently have a trial date set in the case. (source: KETR news) PENNSYLVANIAnew execution date//not serious Corbett signs death warrant for Baumhammers Gov. Tom Corbett on Monday signed the death warrant for convicted murderer Richard Baumhammers, who killed 5 people during a racially motivated shooting spree in the South Hills and Beaver County in April 2000. Baumhammers, 49, has been on death row in Greene County since an Allegheny County jury gave him 5 death sentences. A 6th victim died of his injuries seven years after the shooting. The execution is scheduled for Dec. 3. It is likely to be delayed, however, because of appeals and the state's difficulty in obtaining drugs used in executions. Corbett was forced to sign a temporary reprieve for death row inmate Hubert Michael Jr. last month in part because manufacturers stopped selling their drugs to states that used them in executions. Michael was sentenced to death for the 1994 murder of Trista Eng, 16, in York County. A spokesman for the governor's Office of General Counsel could not immediately be reached for comment. Pennsylvania has executed 3 men - all of whom voluntarily ended their appeals - since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The last person executed in Pennsylvania was Gary Heidnik of Philadelphia in 1999 for the kidnap and torture of 6 women, 2 of whom he killed. (source: triblive.com) 'A painful irony,' murder victim's ex-husband tells jury in York County death-penalty trial When 3 police officers knocked on the door of Jon Schmeyer's Hanover apartment on April 1, 2010, he hoped the news they bore was a horrible April Fool's joke. Schmeyer took the stand Monday morning as the 2nd week of trial for a member of a social club he was part of, Timothy Jacoby, 41, of York, began on charges related to the shooting death of Schmeyer's ex-wife, Monica Schmeyer. While the prosecution was building the case Monday that Schmeyer made many statements at these social club meetings he and Jacoby both attended, saying he would give large amounts of cash to his ex-wife as part of a divorce settlement, Jacoby's attorney, Brian Perry, was indicating through his cross-examination that Schmeyer would be the one who would benefit financially if he no longer had to pay her expenses in the house they once shared in rural Manheim Township. In his testimony Monday, Jon Schmeyer recalled the day the Southwestern Regional Police officers told him about his wife's murder. I was pacing and crying in my apartment, Schmeyer told the York County jury. Still hoping his ex-wife's death was a joke, he drove to the Trone Road home they once shared, and went inside. There was blood everywhere, Schmeyer said. And from that police visit, he realized something else. I was considered a suspect, Schmeyer said. He watched enough Forensic Files on television to know the husband or ex-husband is often accused of the crime, but testified he still called several people, and told them to cooperate fully with the police, because there was nothing to hide. One of those calls was placed to Jacoby's fiancee, Sara Powell. Jacoby, Powell and Jon Schmeyer all regularly attended the informal meetings of the Orange Shorts Society, which would get together at the Hooter's restaurant in York. There was a meeting the day of Monica Schmeyer's death, but Jacoby was not present, testimony indicates. And just prior to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., ALA., OHIO
Oct. 4 TEXAS: Supreme Court Begins New Term with at Least 1 Capital Case The U.S. Supreme Court will begin its 2014-15 term on October 6. One of the cases the Court will hear during its 1st month is Jennings v. Stephens, a Texas death penalty case involving ineffectiveness of counsel and whether a separate appeal is necessary for each such claim. Oral arguments will take place on October 15. The Court has been asked to review an appeal from Scott Panetti, another death row inmate from Texas, who may be mentally incompetent. Last year, the Supreme Court struck down Florida's strict IQ cutoff for determining intellectual disability. In that case, Hall v. Florida, the Court concluded that Florida's law contravenes our Nation's commitment to dignity and its duty to teach human decency as the mark of a civilized world. (source: DPIC) *** There must be a better way to try a capital murder case There is something that has been troubling me for quite some time, but I thought that maybe there was something that could be done about it. Maybe it would work itself out on its own and the right thing would be done. I found out earlier this week I was wrong. My concerns are that a mockery is being made out of the proceedings of the most serious, complex criminal case there is - one that involves the death penalty. When lives have been taken and another life is on the line, regardless of how one might feel about the accused, it is that person's constitutional right to get a fair trial. Sometimes it is the accused who stands in the way of that happening, and sometimes it is someone who does not want to admit they are in over their head. That's what is going on in the capital murder case of Howard Wayne Lewis. The former correctional officer stands accused of slaying his 18-month-old son, Aiyden Benjamin Lewis, and the boy's grandmother, Shanta Crawford, at their Walker County home in July 2013. Their murders were a horrendous crime that rocked the community to its core. The baby was founding hanging from a door inside the residence and his grandmother was violently beaten to death. DNA evidence linked Howard Lewis to the crime. He was arrested and indicted for capital murder of a child under 10 years of age. Lewis became Public Enemy No. 1 to the people of Walker County and the Walker County District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty. Lewis' fiancee, Sharon Lynch, hired Houston defense attorney Maverick Ray to handle the case. She said she did not want an attorney from Walker County representing Lewis because of the old boy network. She settled on the 25-year-old Ray after she talked to less than 5 other attorneys in Houston. When Ray agreed to represent Lewis, he had been out of law school for less than a year, had only been practicing for 5 months and had never tried a jury trial, not even for a misdemeanor offense. (He said he has since tried 7 or 8 jury trials). It wasn't a surprise that the District Attorney's Office filed a motion to determine Ray's qualifications to serve as lead counsel for Lewis' capital case. Ray doesn't even meet the Texas and American Bar associations' qualifications to be court-appointed counsel in a capital case. District Attorney David Weeks said during a hearing Tuesday at the Walker County Courthouse that is was unfair to Lewis and the county's taxpayers for Ray to proceed as 1st chair in the proceedings. I'll take it one step further. It is also unfair to the family of the victims. They deserve to see justice done so they might get a little closure, but a long, drawn-out legal process will continue to deny them that. Ray lacks the necessary experience, which hampers Lewis' right to due process. It was even revealed Tuesday that Ray had not signed and dated several motions that he had tried to file previously. Red flag. If the state gets a conviction and Lewis is sentenced to die by lethal injection, Ray's inexperience opens the door to a strong appeal for ineffective counsel. That could lead to a retrial, meaning Walker County would have to spend more money. That's unfair to the taxpayers. Lynch said Tuesday that she was under the assumption that Ray was qualified to try a capital case when she hired him on a $30,000 retainer. (I hear that capital case defenders ask for at least 3 to 4 times more than that because they often have to put their practice on hold until the case is resolved.) What the young attorney should have done, ethically, is tell Lynch that he wasn't qualified, but he would refer her to someone who was. Ray doesn't exactly have a lengthy resume for someone tasked with what I have been told by well-seasoned attorneys is the most difficult case to try. Ray said in court Tuesday that he has peeped his head into a courtroom where a capital trial was taking place. I sat in on a death penalty case more than that when I was covering the John Falk
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., ALA., LA., OHIO, IND.
Sept. 24 TEXAS: Why Are So Many People Getting Sentenced to Death in Houston? 10 counties are responsible for more than a quarter of all U.S. executions, but one in Texas far surpasses all others. Just 10 U.S. counties - roughly 0.3 % of the nation's total - account for more than 1/4 of all the American executions that have been carried out since 1976. Texas's Harris County, which includes Houston, is far and away the leader in executions during that period. That district has handed out 122 death sentences that were carried to completion, more than double the next highest. Harris County alone is responsible for more executions than any state besides Texas. Dallas County, which includes the Dallas-Fort Worth area, comes in 2nd at 53. According to data maintained by the Death Penalty Information Center, a D.C.-based organization that opposes the death penalty, the 10 counties with the most executions are: 1. Harris County (Houston), Texas: 122 2. Dallas County (Dallas/Fort Worth), Texas: 53 3. Oklahoma County (Oklahoma City), Oklahoma: 40 4. Tarrant County (Fort Worth), Texas: 38 5. Bexar County (San Antonio), Texas: 37 6. Tulsa County, Oklahoma: 17 7. Montgomery County, Texas: 16 8. Jefferson County, Texas: 16 9. St. Louis County, Missouri: 15 10 (tie). St. Louis City, Missouri: 13 10 (tie). Pima County (Tucson), Arizona: 13 While a tiny portion of counties are responsible for a large share of executions since 1976, 85 percent of counties - including a majority of those in Texas - have not been responsible for any executions in the last 40 years. Just 4 of Texas's 254 counties account for about 1/2 of all the state's executions. States are generally responsible for administering executions, but the sentences begin at the county level. So why do some counties hand out so many more death-penalty sentences than others? There are some obvious factors: Some counties are in states where capital punishment is banned, taking them out of consideration. And larger counties, by virtue of having more people, are also likely to have more crimes and more crimes that qualify for death sentences. Harris County, for example, has more than 4 million people - making it one of the largest in the country. Death-penalty opponents, however, have noted discrepancies that are uncorrelated with state laws or county sizes. A study released last year by the Death Penalty Information Center found that 2 percent of counties account for more than half of all death-row sentences and executions. The report argued that death sentences depend more on the location of the county line than on the severity of the crime. In many states, the decision to pursue a death sentence is made by the county's district attorney, a position that is often elected. The report's authors suggested that urban areas, largely in the South, where prosecutors have abundant resources are most likely to pursue and achieve a death sentence. Because court appeals reaching up to the Supreme Court can drag on for years, if not decades, smaller counties are less able to tie their hands with a capital case. To take on a death-penalty case, that's a multiyear commitment of a million dollars or more, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. If you're in Houston, there are 200 attorneys in the D.A.'s office, at least. They can do a lot of death-penalty cases. Certain prosecutors, particularly in certain regions, will develop expertise, not just in an ability to secure a capital verdict ... but to know how to pick a jury that is more death-inclined, said Douglas Berman, a sentencing expert at Ohio State University's law school who considers himself neither for or against the death penalty. Population indeed plays a role, Berman added, but not just because the sheer amount of crimes committed. By having more homicides on their docket, prosecutors can cherry-pick the cases most likely to turn back a capital sentence and pursue those ones aggressively, he said. No prosecutor likes to lose a case, Berman said. They would especially by frustrated to put all this energy in pursuing a death sentence and have it come back as a life sentence. You sort of take a gulp and ask yourself, 'Wow, is that sort of case right for the death penalty?' Death-penalty advocates don't dispute that a prosecutorial discretion plays a role in determining how many capital sentences originate from a specific county. But that hardly indicates the system is broken, said Kent Scheidegger, the chief lawyer for the Sacramento-based Criminal Justice Legal Foundation. The reason we elect our prosecutors locally is that we can have that sort of influence, Scheidegger said, adding that those with disproportionately low, not high, numbers of executions are problematic. There are places where the death penalty is not imposed enough. So, why is Harris County's death count so much
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., ALA., US MIL., KY.
Jan. 23 TEXASdeath sentence overturned Man's death sentence overturned A Galveston man convicted of capital murder in the brutal killing of a college instructor in 1993 will remain on death row while prosecutors decide whether to appeal the reversal of his death sentence. Gaylon George Walbey Jr., 34, was sentenced to die in the May, 4, 1993, slaying of Marionette Beyah, who had been his foster mother in 1988 and 1989. Police found Beyah, 46, bludgeoned to death inside her island home. Police said she interrupted Walbey's burglary of her residence. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion Monday reversing Walbey's death sentence, citing ineffectiveness of council during his punishment hearing. As the reason for the reversal, the court's opinion states defense attorney Roger Ezell failed to investigate mitigating circumstances of Walbey's mental state, childhood and a host of other potentially mitigating circumstances. Ezell, who works for the appellate division of the Galveston County District Attorney's Office, said Thursday he disagreed with the court's decision and would have no part in the state's proceedings regarding Walbey. Reasons For Reversal The court stated Ezell waited until the week before the hearing to prepare for Walbey's punishment phase and only skimmed the records provided by the district attorney on Walbey's background. Ezell failed to contact potential witnesses, namely Walbey's mother, and others who had direct knowledge of Walbeys troubled childhood, the opinion states. Ezell also didnt probe Walbey's relationship to Beyah, even though there were no impediments to conducting an investigation or to hiring a mitigation expert, the opinion states. The appeal of Walbeys death sentence has been ongoing for 14 years, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and a federal appeals court judge upheld the death sentence, Ezell said. Guilty Plea Withdrawn Walbey originally agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence, but changed his mind, Ezell said. There was a prisoner from death row at the court house for a hearing, and they put him in the same holding cell with the prisoner, Ezell said. The guy talked him (Walbey) into rolling the dice. That prisoner now of course has been executed. The appeals court ordered a new punishment phase of Walbey's capital trial or the imposition of the appropriate noncapital alternative sentence. Joel Bennett, 1st-assistant criminal district attorney for Galveston County, said no decision has been made on whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The state has 14 days to decide whether to ask the appeals court to reconsider its opinion or 90 days to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case, said Tom Kelley, a spokesman for the Texas Attorney General. (source: Galveston Daily News) PENNSYLVANIA: Death penalty stays in play in stabbing James Hower could face the death penalty even though preliminary evidence shows he probably didn't strike the blow that killed David Kern 3 years ago, the state Superior Court has ruled. Hower, 24, and Roberto Laboy, 24, both of Lebanon, are accused of beating and fatally stabbing Kern on Jan. 21, 2006, in a Lebanon alley while Kern and a companion, Tina Garcia, walked home from a bar. An autopsy determined Kern died from a knife blow that penetrated his heart. Lebanon County Judge John Tylwalk ruled in 2007 that Hower should not face the death penalty when he goes to trial for the killing, because it appeared that Laboy wielded the knife that killed Kern. Lebanon County District Attorney Dave Arnold appealed Tylwalk's decision to Superior Court. In the Superior Court ruling, the judges noted that Hower's pants were strained with Kern's blood and Garcia testified that both assailants punched Kern in the face and the stomach. Evidence showed that Hower was a principal in the attack that caused the death of Kern, the judges wrote. Laboy remains in Lebanon County Prison, and Hower is in the state prison in Dallas. (source: PennLive.com) ALABAMA: Downtown Mobile motel owner's killer gets death sentence A Mobile judge Thursday ordered the execution of Donald Whatley for the December 2003 slaying of downtown motel owner Pete Patel. Circuit Judge Joseph Rusty Johnston read aloud from an 11-page order, announcing he was following the advisory verdict handed down by a jury in November. After finding Whatley guilty of capital murder, the jury voted 10-2 in favor of capital punishment. No one spoke Thursday but Johnston. In a previous hearing, Patel's relatives and prosecutors asked for the death penalty and a sister of Whatley's asked that his life be spared. Whatley, 34, who watched the proceedings through a pair of thick glasses, declined to say anything Thursday. As Johnston announced his decision, it appeared to take Whatley a moment to absorb what the judge was saying. Slowly, as he sat deathly still, Whatley's jailhouse pallor flushed
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., ALA., USA, N.C.
April 20 TEXAS: Execution of 'Railroad Killer' delayed for psychiatric testing The scheduled execution next month of Angel Maturino Resendiz, the Mexican drifter dubbed the Railroad Killer, has been delayed for more psychiatric testing, according to Harris County prosecutors. Maturino Resendiz' execution was moved from May 10 to June 27 to allow for additional testing of the 45-year-old Mexican citizen, Harris County Assistant District Attorney Roe Wilson said Wednesday. The condemned serial killer's attorneys claim he is insane and earlier this month filed reports from two mental health experts who concluded Maturino Resendiz is delusional, schizophrenic and has an organic brain disorder. But prosecutors say Maturino Resendiz is sane and is manipulating the court system. Maturino Resendiz was condemned for the 1998 murder of Dr. Claudia Benton, 39, who was raped, stabbed and beaten in her home in West University Place, a wealthy enclave within Houston. Maturino Resendiz got the name the Railroad Killer because he was linked to 14 slayings in Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Illinois near the rail lines he rode nationwide. He has claimed to have committed even more. Maturino Resendiz turned himself in to a Texas Ranger in El Paso in 1999. During his trial in May 2000, Maturino Resendiz asked for the death penalty. His lawyers argued he was innocent by reason of insanity. After his conviction, he pledged to drop all his appeals to hasten his execution. He eventually changed his mind and filed appeals. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in March 2004 rejected his appeal. The court had previously affirmed his 2000 conviction and death sentence. (source: Associated Press) Teacher's killer sues after suicide attempt Ronnie Joe Neal, who was sentenced to death for killing Alamo Heights teacher Diane Tilly, filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against Bexar County officials alleging the jail deprived him of adequate treatment. The suit alleges the jail was informed by District Judge Sid Harle that Neal ought to be placed on suicide watch because Neal had written a letter dated March 26 indicating he wanted to commit suicide. The suit claims that on April 4, Neal obtained an unspecified number of Xanax pills from an inmate or guard, ingested 50 of them about 9:30 p.m. and gave an inmate or guard a suicide note. That suicide note was not reported until almost 4 a.m. on April 5, when guards found Neal unresponsive, the suit alleges. The suit said guards deemed Neal was kidding and deprived him of the necessary medical care, even though signs showed he needed treatment. Neal was not taken to a hospital until almost 10 hours after his suicide attempt, the suit said. He was returned to the Bexar County Jail about a week ago. The suit seeks $35 million and asks a judge to order the jail to stop violating inmates' rights. An attorney who handles civil suits for the county said he could not comment on the lawsuit until after he reviewed it. (source: San Antonio Express-News) *** Justice Delayed for Yogurt Shop Defendant Although the Constitution's Sixth Amendment protects a defendant's right to a speedy trial (among other rights), that promise apparently doesn't extend to appeals proceedings; or at least, in the case of convicted Yogurt Shop Murders defendant Robert Springsteen, it is a right that apparently isn't of much concern to the 9 justices of the Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas' highest criminal court. Springsteen was the 1st of 2 defendants convicted of the grisly 1991 murders of 4 girls inside a North Austin yogurt shop. A third defendant - Maurice Pierce, who prosecutors insisted was the mastermind behind the crime - was released in 2003 after prosecutors dropped all charges against him; a Travis Co. grand jury twice declined to indict a 4th suspect, Forrest Welborn. (For more, see Somebody Has to Die, June 15, 2001.) Springsteen was convicted in 2001, sentenced to die and sent to death row, where he's still waiting for the CCA to issue an opinion on his 1st round of appeals, filed in October 2002 and argued before the court in May 2003. Indeed, as of noon today, April 20, it has been two years, 10 months, and 23 days that the court has been sitting on Springsteen's direct appeal of his capital-murder conviction without making a ruling - or, a total of 151 weeks (rounded down), 1,058 days (including weekends), 25,392 hours, 1,523,520 minutes, or 91,411,200 seconds since 6 members of the court showed up to hear oral arguments on Springsteen's appeal. Calculated from the date that the appeal was actually filed, Oct. 16, 2002, a total of 3 years, 6 months, and four days have passed - or, 1,282 days (including weekends), 183 weeks (rounded down), 30,768 hours, 1,846,000 minutes, or 110,764,800 seconds. Nonetheless, at press time, no one at the CCA was able to explain exactly why the court has taken such an exorbitant amount of
