Sept. 15
TEXAS:
We recommend Bert Richardson for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3
Deep experience in the law. Impeccable credentials. Exposure to a range of
issues. Energy. Intellectual engagement. Widely traveled.
If these are ideal qualities for a member of the Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals, Republican Bert Richardson is an ideal candidate for Place 3 on
November's ballot. Richardson, 58, was a state district judge in San Antonio
for 10 years before taking senior status and assignments to cases across 45
Texas counties.
The cases he's handled reflect some of the big challenges in criminal justice.
Richardson is also board certified in criminal law, a qualification achieved by
fewer than 2 % of lawyers.
Richardson has been involved with numerous death penalty cases, both as a
prosecutor in Bexar County and as a judge. His observations to this newspaper
on capital punishment are remarkable for a jurist: Richardson said there is no
consistency in Texas in deciding when to seek the death penalty and that the
state could benefit from a review process similar to one used by the U.S.
Justice Department. Richardson once worked as a federal prosecutor.
Richardson's Democratic opponent, John Granberg, 38, is an El Paso criminal
lawyer and former assistant county prosecutor who says he would improve the
court's awareness of immigration law. With no experience in state appeals or
death cases, Granberg lacks credentials needed for this post.
Libertarian Mark W. Bennett also appears on the ballot.
(source: Editorial, Dallas Morning News)
*********************
No-Knock Raid Leads To Dead Officer But No Drugs: Prosecutors Pushing For Death
Penalty Anyway
A no-knock raid is a law enforcement technique designed to search for
incriminating evidence while taking suspects by surprise. However, on the
morning of May 9, it left one officer dead and another injured.
Now prosecutors in Killeen, Texas, are hoping to impose the death penalty on
the suspect, 49-year-old Marvin Louis Guy (pictured above), in spite of the
fact that no drugs were found.
The Washington Post writer Radley Balko looks at why this may not be such a
good idea.
"Perhaps this was a major drug operation that justified a pre-dawn, no-knock
raid. But it doesn't seem like it from the evidence found," Balko said. "I'd
imagine that a good percentage of households in Texas have at least 1 firearm
and that a good percentage of households elsewhere in America have cellphones
and a set of walkie-talkies [items found in the raid]."
While there was a drug pipe found at the scene, this "suggests drug use, not
distribution," and Balko rightly points out that while an informant "saw white
bags of cocaine transported in and around the house," criminal informants are
not typically that reliable.
"But all of that is mostly beside the point," Balko concludes. "The fact that
the police didn't find any drugs in the house suggests that Marvin Louis Guy
didn't know he was shooting at cops. Drug dealer or no, unless he had a death
wish, it's unlikely that a guy would knowingly fire at police officers when he
had nothing in the house that was particularly incriminating."
Still, the Killeen Police Department lost one of its own in 47-year-old Officer
Charles "Chuck" Dinwiddie, and that isn't lost on the prosecution, notes KWTX.
The outlet originally broke the news prosecutors would be seeking the death
penalty in spite of the probability that Guy, awakened at 5:30 a.m/ by the
no-knock raid, was simply shooting wildly at what he believed to be armed
intruders.
His gunfire also struck the femur of Officer Odis Denton, 37, who underwent
surgery and was later released from Scott & White Hospital.
Guy also shot 2 additional officers, who were unharmed due to the bullets
striking protective gear.
While the evidence presented thus far does not indicate that police had
substantial reason to believe Guy was a drug dealer, the case is still in the
early stages of being tried, so it'll be interesting to see how it develops.
(source: Inquisitr)
PENNSYLVANIA:
Death penalty trial to open in 2012 slaying of suburban Philadelphia baby,
grandmother
Jury selection is scheduled Tuesday in the trial of a suburban Philadelphia man
accused of having killed a baby and her grandmother in a botched kidnapping
plot.
27-year-old Raghunandan Yandamuri of Upper Merion could face the death penalty
if convicted of 1st-degree murder in Montgomery County Court.
Prosecutors allege that he kidnapped 10-month-old Saanvi Venna from her
family's King of Prussia apartment in October 2012 and killed the baby's
grandmother after the woman tried to protect the child. The girl's body was
found several days later.
Yandamuri plans to represent himself on charges of first and second degree
murder, kidnapping, burglary and robbery. The trial was scheduled to open last
week but was delayed to allow him to look into forensic evidence and confer
with an investigator.
(source: Associated Press)
GEORGIA:
Clemency 'transparency' may be hot issue at Capitol----Ruling in 1991 murder
case, and lack of explanation, raises emotions in Dawson County
The State Board of Pardons and Paroles' silence on the July 10 clemency it
granted a death-row inmate in a 1991 murder case has stirred strong emotions in
North Georgia, with ripple effects possibly leading to the doors of the 2015
General Assembly.
"I think that we, as a state, owe the family an explanation why that sentence
didn't get carried out," said state Sen. Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, adding that
the lack of a reason is "tragic."
The 5-member board's decision to commute Tommy Lee Waldrip for his part in the
murder of Keith Lloyd Evans to life in prison without parole evoked strong
reaction by itself.
But the board's later decision to deny Dawson County's request to declassify
materials related to the decision has inspired a call for change that has riled
several groups and piqued the interest of Gooch, whose district includes
Dawson.
He said he's "anxious to hear what we can do in the General Assembly to open
that process up a little bit more and make it more transparent. Whether that
requires legislation or not, I don't know.
"I'm satisfied there'll be some discussion between now and January about a
piece of legislation to make that happen."
Also eyeing the debate is the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.
"The issue of prime concern to the First Amendment community is not whether or
not any given defendant is released - rather that the public knows almost
nothing about the process of release," executive director Hollie Manheimer
said.
"Public safety is a huge issue of public concern and this board's decisions
impacts public safety. The public has a keen interest in its decisions."
Evans' sister, Angela DeCoursey, said her family was "not at all surprised" the
parole board refused to release the information regarding its decision, based
on "the positions of power this 5-member board has."
"We are very disappointed, however, to know that the taxpayers of this state
pay over half a million to this board, (which) does not have to be accountable
for their actions."
DeCoursey said her family has not decided on future steps, if any.
"We ... feel we have exhausted all efforts, basically to no avail," she said.
"Injustice has truly prevailed and we have been forced to accept it."
DeCoursey did say she hopes that "very soon, the law will be changed to avoid
this happening to other families."
Northeastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Lee Darragh said that in the
clemency hearing he participated in, some parole board members seemed focused
on "flawed reasoning" that "equally culpable" co-defendant John Mark Waldrip,
Tommy Waldrip's son, didn't get the death penalty that he had sought "from a
different jury in a different county."
In separate trials, Howard Livingston and John Mark Waldrip were sentenced to
life in prison for their parts in Evans' beating death.
When asked about the transparency issues raised in this case, parole board
spokesman Steve Hayes only said the board "has discretion under the law to
determine whether it is appropriate to declassify information" and that its
authority is derived from the Georgia Constitution.
Waldrip's attorneys and family couldn't be reached for comment. James Mills, a
Hall County resident and former state representative who serves on the parole
board, also couldn't be reached.
Sasha Dlugolenski, a spokeswoman for Gov. Nathan Deal said, "There is a healthy
distance between the governor and the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, as
required by law.
"The only role the governor plays in this whole process is the ability to
appoint board members subject to confirmation by the state Senate. Therefore,
something of this nature would not fall under our jurisdiction."
The state's Open Records Act, which was last revised in 2012, exempts documents
related to "the deliberations and voting of the state Board of Pardons and
Paroles."
In addition, the law states, the "board may close a meeting held for the
purpose of receiving information or evidence for or against clemency or in
revocation proceedings if it determines that the receipt of such information or
evidence in open meeting would present a substantial risk of harm or injury to
a witness."
Dawson County Attorney Joey Homans said the county wants the classified
information to be revealed in the pardons and parole board's annual report to
the governor.
He said Georgia is one of a handful of states that does not require the
governor, "or at least some elected officer," to be involved in clemency
issues.
"If we receive no progress, we may request that the statute be rewritten. We're
now waiting to see how it unfolds," he said.
Homans said he is currently working on letters to the governor, Attorney
General Sam Olens, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, House Speaker David Ralston, Rep.
Kevin Tanner, R-Dawsonville, and Gooch on the matter. Olens' spokeswoman Lauren
Kane said state law gives the board "the discretion to seal records ... and
does not give us the authority to unseal them."
She noted that in the early 1940s, questions were raised about the handling of
pardons by some governors' offices.
Public concern led the General Assembly to enact legislation, signed into law
in February 1943, that created the State Board of Pardons and Paroles as an
independent agency to administer executive clemency.
In August 1943, Georgia voters ratified an amendment to the state constitution
to establish the parole board's authority "to grant paroles, pardons and
reprieves, to commute sentences, including death sentences, to remit sentences,
and to remove disabilities imposed by law."
The board also was given a staff of parole officers to investigate cases and
supervise persons granted parole.
Darragh said an area of concern is that the board conducts its own
investigations.
"To review and rely on the record, transcripts and the like is perhaps a good
thing," he said. "However, to re-interview the defendant himself ... and allow
him to make up whatever facts about the crime that he would without any access
to that interview by the prosecutor or opportunity to refute those alleged
facts is contrary to any sense of a proper legal process."
Gooch said legislators moving forward on the issue need "to be careful with
changing all of those procedures.
"We don't want to do it too quickly or out of emotion, but, at the same time,
the process worked (in the Waldrip case), the judicial system did its job ...
and the family deserves some explanation."
"The only silver lining here," Darragh said, "is that Tommy Lee Waldrip will
never see the light of day, with (his sentence). In that both the remaining
co-defendants unfortunately do have parole eligibility, it should be that they
too should never see the light of day themselves."
(source: Gainesville Times)
FLORIDA:
Convicted Murderer James Herard Dares Judge To Impose Death Penalty
A Florida convict dared a judge to give him the death penalty during a Friday
hearing because he believes the Supreme Court would never allow him to die for
something he didn't do.
James Herard, 25, was convicted in May of murdering 2 people. He maintains his
innocence.
"Honestly and truly, I'm not asking you to spare me," he told the judge at his
sentencing hearing. "Go ahead and do what you gonna do. I pretty much dare you
to give me the death sentence because I'm innocent."
Prosecutors said Herard belongs to a violent gang whose members use body counts
to compete with each other.
"I'm actually hoping you give me the death penalty because I know the Supreme
Court won't allow me to die for something I didn't commit," Herard reportedly
told the judge.
Herard was previously convicted of the 2008 murder of Kiem Huynh, 58, and was
sentenced to life in prison. Herard, then 19, made headlines when he appeared
in Broward Circuit Court and barked like a dog, NBC Miami reported.
(source: opposingviews.com)
WASHINGTON:
Death penalty: Cost of trials is too high
2 people who allegedly killing 6 family members in Carnation in 2007 are still
awaiting trial ["Carnation death-penalty case hit by more delays," Local News,
Sept. 5]. 7 years, so far, of delay.
Why? Because the state is asking for the death penalty and the defense lawyers,
as they should, are fighting vigorously for their clients' lives.
How much is this costing state taxpayers? A lot. And for what, to satisfy our
blood lust for vengeance? And, of course, if convicted, the appeals, mandatory
under state law, would take many more years and cost us more millions.
When will we wake up and abolish the death penalty? It is barbaric and many
studies find that it is not a deterrent.
Don Logerwell, Seattle
(source: Letter to the Editor, Seattle TImes)
USA:
The case of 2 wrongly imprisoned men exposes the flaws of the judicial system
The case of 2 North Carolina men who spent 30 years in prison - 1 on death row
- for a crime they didn't commit calls attention once again to the familiar
failings in the U.S. justice system that lead to false convictions. As much as
we would like to cheer the release of Henry McCollum and his half-brother Leon
Brown, we can't help but be sobered by how long they spent behind bars - and
how many other innocent people may remain locked up or susceptible to false
arrest and imprisonment.
The 2 men, now 50 and 46, were declared innocent in the 1983 rape and murder of
11-year-old Sabrina Buie and freed from prison on Sept. 2 by a state judge. The
move came after DNA implicated another man, a known sex offender who lived near
the crime scene and is serving life in prison for a similar murder that
occurred just weeks after Buie was killed. The DNA evidence did more than
exonerate the men; it laid bare the flimsiness of a case corrupted at every
stage by mistakes and misconduct.
No physical evidence ever tied Mr. McCollum, then 19, and Mr. Brown, 15, to the
murder of the young girl. Prosecutors instead relied on confessions coerced
from the 2 intellectually disabled teenagers after hours of questioning with no
lawyer present. After signing a statement written by investigators with details
of the crime, Mr. McCollum asked: "Can I go home now?"
Most appalling is that police knew about the sex offender suspect, at one point
even requesting that a fingerprint match be undertaken. But this was never done
and none of this information was ever shared with the defense. It's not a
stretch to think there would have been a different outcome if police hadn't
been so quick to settle on suspects to close out this horrific case. Or if the
jury had been told of the existence of a suspect who had confessed to a similar
rape and murder nearby.
The ingredients that went into this miscarriage of justice have not been
eliminated even today: police and prosecutorial tunnel vision, false
confessions resulting from improper questioning, failure to turn over
exculpatory evidence and a death penalty appeals system with blinders to
critical issues. Among the obviously needed reforms: Require open file
discovery so that defendants can have access to all information; videotape all
confessions; establish in every state innocence commissions like that in North
Carolina. Above all else, the fact that an innocent man, Mr. McCollum, came so
close to execution - Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia cited the case as an
example that clearly called out for a lethal injection - is further reason to
abolish the death penalty.
(source: Opinion; Washington Post)
************************
U.S. should abolish the death penalty
No one is justified in taking a human life, except in self-defense.
We justify the death penalty by saying it will prevent the person from
committing the crime again as well as deter other people from committing the
crime.
The same result can be obtained with a life sentence without parole, and we
would avoid executing a wrongly convicted person. If this has happened only
once, it is too often.
We need to abolish the death penalty. Two wrongs do not make a right.
James Schell, Henderson
(source: Letter to the Editor, Las Vegas Sun)
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