[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., FLA., OHIO, TENN., NEB., N.MEX., UTAH, ARIZ., USA
July 11 TEXAS: San Antonio man facing death row in killing of 2 teens in 2015 takes plea A San Antonio man facing death in the killings of two teenagers in 2015 entered a guilty plea Wednesday and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. It was about a year ago that proceedings in Brian Flores’ capital murder case ended in a mistrial because one of his lawyers was injured in a fall. The incident called into question whether the lawyer would be able to finish selecting a jury, which in death cases can take up to a month to seat. Flores was 33 and already in jail on 2 other charges when he was arrested and charged with capital murder-multiple persons in the deaths of Joshua Rodriguez, 18, and Victoria Dennis, 17. The homicides occurred at the Churchill Park complex in the 1200 block of Patricia Drive on the North Side on Sept. 29, 2015. (source: mysanantonio.com) PENNSYLVANIA: DA to seek death penalty in child stabbing Lawrence County's district attorney said he intends to pursue the death penalty against Keith L. Burley Jr., who was arrested in Monday night's stabbing death of an 8-year-old boy in Union Township. Burley was apprehended Tuesday morning in Youngstown following the fatal stabbing of Mark Edward Mason. The homicide took place in the presence of three other boys who were inside the house on High Street where the attack occurred. The other boys witnessed the stabbing but escaped the house. "I can't get into specific details," Josh Lamancusa said Wednesday, "but I can share that this little boy died a hero, saving his brother and the other children in the house." Lawrence County Deputy Coroner Rich Johnson, who attended the autopsy at Heritage Valley Health System in Beaver County, determined that Mark Mason died of multiple stab wounds to the neck, and that the manner of death was homicide. Johnson would not say how many times the child had been stabbed, only that the information would be released at later court proceedings once Burley is brought to Lawrence County to face the charges. An angry Lamancusa said that he has contacted the governor's office, demanding to know why Burley was released from state prison a couple of months ago after serving only the minimum sentence of a previous homicide conviction, when he also has a trail of convictions of other violent crimes, some involving guns. Burley also has a conviction for having stabbed an inmate in the neck in the Lawrence County jail in 2002. Burley had been released on parole from the March 19,1999, robbery shooting death of 36-year-old Randall Stewart in the Halco Drive area. According to a 1999 police report provided by New Castle police chief Bobby Salem, Burley initially faced 90 different charges in the Stewart shooting, including homicide and robbery, but he entered a guilty plea to 1 count each of 3rd-degree murder and having a gun without a license. He was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in a state correctional institution as a result. "The (state) parole board released a guy who is a repeat violent and dangerous offender," Lamancusa said. "That is ridiculous. I can't imagine what the parole board was considering when they released him at the minimum. I find it hard to believe anyone could have looked at his past record and determined that he's not a threat or danger to the community. "Now we have the confirmation of the depth of his depravity, sadly." "I will be pursuing the death penalty," Lamancusa declared of the Monday stabbing. "It's a horrific case. To do so, he will have to sign a notice of aggravated circumstances and file it in the courts. The notice will set forth the reasons, including the aggravated circumstances, to justify it. "I think Burley meets several of the requirements," Lamancusa said. Burley remains in the Mahoning County jail, awaiting an extradition hearing that is scheduled for Thursday. It was unknown Wednesday when he would be returned to Lawrence County to face his charges. According to a criminal complaint and reports from authorities, Burley had gotten into an argument that turned physical with his alleged girlfriend in the parking lot of the New Castle Fire Department on Monday night. He allegedly assaulted and injured the woman, and she was taken to the hospital for treatment. In the course of their argument, he is accused of getting into her vehicle where her 2 sons — Mark Mason and his 7-year-old brother — were waiting, and driving off with them to the house at 60 High St., which was the home of another acquaintance. 2 other boys, ages 15 and 8, were upstairs playing video games when they heard someone entering downstairs, the complaint states, about half an hour after the dispute at the fire station. The boys went downstairs to see who was there and Burley was there with the two boys and was holding a gun, according to the account they gave the state police. H
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., FLA., OHIO
January 24 TEXASimpending execution Death Watch: Last-Ditch Efforts to Avert 2019’s 1st ExecutionRobert Jennings files new motions in 1988 murder case The state still hopes to execute its 1st inmate of 2019 before January's end. Blaine Milam was scheduled to die by lethal injection on Jan. 15, but with 24 hours left to live, he was granted a stay by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and his case was remanded back to the trial court. Now Robert Jennings is fighting for a similar outcome. Scheduled to die on January 30 – his second execution date – the Houston native filed in November a stay request and appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, and a separate motion for relief in federal court on Tuesday, Jan. 22. Jennings, now 61, was convicted of capital murder for killing Houston Police Officer Elston Howard in 1988 while attempting to rob an adult bookstore. SCOTUS last denied Jennings relief in January 2016, but eight months later he narrowly escaped the needle when the CCA first stayed his execution to further review claims that the state destroyed a police interview from shortly after his arrest, in which Jennings expressed remorse for shooting Howard. The interview, Jennings argued, should have been used as mitigating evidence that could have swayed the sentencing jury. Jennings' most recent motion argues ineffective trial counsel – specifically that his previous claims "received no review on the merits in any court," which "seriously affects the integrity of the prior proceedings in this case." The filing references the Supreme Court's 1976 decision to reinstate the death penalty, which calls for execution only if a jury was "empowered to give a reasoned moral response to evidence of that person's life and character," an opportunity Jennings argues he was denied. He also argues that the Supreme Court's ruling in Penry v. Lynaugh, which was decided during his trial, found that Texas' statute on capital sentencing often "failed to comply" with the Eighth Amendment because it didn't allow jurors to "impose a sentence directly related to the personal culpability of the defendant." Though the Penry decision made headlines in Houston when Jennings was being tried, his appeal argues, his trial attorneys didn't take notice and the jury received inaccurate instructions. In September, shortly after Jennings' latest death date was set, his longtime appellate attorney Randy Schaffer filed a motion to appoint "conflict-free" counsel for his client in federal court. Jennings' Jan. 22 appeal argues that Schaffer failed to raise all available "extra-record" claims, and that Jennings' new legal team (led by Edward Mallett) had less than 90 days to review the case and take action before his looming execution. The 60-page filing concludes that Jennings' case is "extraordinary" and deserves to be reopened; according to the Houston Chronicle, Jennings has also asked the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to grant him a commutation. Should Jennings be the first inmate to die in the new year, he'll be the 559th person killed by the state since the death penalty's return in 1976. (source: Austin Chronicle) *** Texas: Revealing execution drug supplier would endanger death penalty Urging the Texas Supreme Court to allow prison officials to continue hiding the identity of an execution-drug supplier, a lawyer for Texas argued Wednesday that unmasking the pharmacy could endanger the company’s employees and the state’s ability to put prisoners to death. The pharmacy, in an urban area and open to the public, is a “soft target” for any frustrated death penalty opponent who believes violence could deter companies from selling execution drugs to the state, Ari Cuenin, an assistant solicitor general for Texas, told the court during oral arguments in Austin. Defense lawyers representing death row inmates already were given all pertinent information about the pentobarbital doses sold to Texas for use in executions, including testing on potency and purity, when the legal challenge began in 2014, Cuenin said. “The only piece of information that is left in this case is the one piece of information that law enforcement needs to provide any measure of safety to the pharmacy that is involved in this case,” he said. “Its only defense is anonymity.” In Supreme Court briefs, Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office has characterized the legal fight as a “collateral attack on the death penalty” by those who want to disrupt the state’s ability to administer the death penalty. But Phil Durst, a lawyer for the 3 defense attorneys who sought the information while representing death row inmates in 2014, said in legal briefs that the state’s “sky is falling” worries were exaggerated because there has never been any violence, or threat of violence, directed at a lethal-drug supplier that was known to the public in Texas or any other state. Speaking
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., FLA., OHIO, IND.
November 8 TEXAS: Texas prosecutors, death row inmate agree in high court case | The Tribune Harris County prosecutors have filed a motion with the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to determine that a Texas appeals court was wrong to rule that a death row inmate is not intellectually disabled. The filing Tuesday by the Harris County district attorney's office comes after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in June ruled that Bobby James Moore is mentally capable enough to execute. The office has previously argued that Moore's intellectual disability should result in a life sentence. The appeals court finding prompted Moore's attorneys to file their 2nd appeal to the Supreme Court. It's unusual in a death penalty case for prosecutors to agree with the defense that a defendant should be spared from execution. Moore was convicted of fatally shooting a Houston grocery store clerk in 1980 during a robbery. (source: Associated Press) PENNSYLVANIA: Forensic scientist testifies in Greensburg murder/torture death penalty trial Investigators found no physical evidence that a mentally disabled woman was raped days before she was stabbed to death in 2010, a witness testified Wednesday at the death penalty trial for 1 of 6 Greensburg roommates convicted in the murder. Forensic scientist Sarah Kinneer told jurors an examination of evidence collected during the autopsy of 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty revealed no genetic material or DNA to suggest she was raped during the course of her captivity. “A lack of evidence is not unusual in sexual assault cases,” Kinneer said. Her testimony came during the third day of the resentencing trial for Melvin Knight, 29, formerly of Swissvale, Allegheny County, who pleaded guilty six years ago to the 2010 torture slaying of Daugherty. Prosecutors said Knight fatally stabbed Daugherty, who had been held captive for more than two days, beaten and tortured before she was killed. For the second time, the prosecution is seeking a death sentence for Knight. In 2012, he was given the death penalty, but in 2016 a state appeals court vacated that penalty and ordered a new sentencing trial. Prosecutors contend Knight raped Daugherty during her captivity. While he was never charged with a sexual assault, District Attorney John Peck said jurors should consider it as a reason to impose the death penalty. Kinneer was questioned at length by Assistant District Attorney Leo Ciaramitaro about why no physical evidence of rape was found. She testified physical evidence of a sexual assault could have been washed away or eliminated if a rape occurred several days before Daugherty’s death. She also suggested not all sexual assaults result in bodily fluids being left behind. Knight previously denied raping Daugherty but has not contested his role in the killing. Knight claims he is ineligible for the death penalty because of a low intellect and a history of mental illness. Investigators contend Daugherty was killed in the bathroom of the Pennsylvania Avenue apartment where she was held by Knight and his roommates. Evidence that attempts were made to clean blood from throughout the apartment were found during the investigation, according to testimony Wednesday from retired Westmoreland County Detective Hugh Shearer. Knight’s sentencing trial is expected to continue Thursday before Judge Rita Hathaway. (source: triblive.com) NORTH CAROLINA: State seeking death penalty against Trooper Kevin Conner’s accused killer 1 of the 2 suspects charged in the shooting death of NC State Trooper Kevin Conner will face the death penalty. Columbus County District Attorney Jon David said earlier today a Columbus County grand jury issued an Indictment for 1st degree murder against Chauncy Askew in the shooting death of Trooper Conner. David said his office intends to seek the death penalty against Askew. “Earlier this week, I convened a panel of senior prosecutors to meet with me to scrupulously review the evidence and carefully consider the relative culpability of both defendants who are charged in the shooting death of Trooper Kevin Conner,” David wrote in a news release. “At this time, the State elects to seek the death penalty against Chauncy Askew. The case against Raheem Davis remains in District Court and my office will make a charging determination about him at a later date.” Raheem Davis was arrested on October 17, just hours after Conner was shot during a trafic stop on Highway 701 in Columbus County. Investigators say Davis and Askew were together in the truck Trooper Conner pulled over. Surveillance video from a convenience store shows Askew getting in the driver’s seat of the truck. Just 15 minutes later Conner pulled the truck over for speeding and was shot to death. After a manhunt, officers found Davis in Fair Bluff and arrested him. Several days later, law enforcement arrested Askew in South Carolin
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., FLA., OHIO
Feb. 13 TEXAS: DA's office to mull death penalty in 2006 Donna murder The Hidalgo County District Attorney's Office requested more time Monday to decide whether they will again seek the death penalty against a man who won a new punishment trial on appeal. Douglas Armstrong was sentenced to death in 2007 for the previous year's murder of Rafael Castelan in Donna. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Armstrong, 47, a retrial for the punishment phase in November 2017, and the assistant district attorneys trying the case were expected to announce their decision Monday. District Judge Noe Gonzalez granted the state's request for additional time, telling Armstrong the state has "a very complex decision to make." Gonzalez gave the DA's office until March 19 to determine whether to seek the death penalty, and thus go to trial, or have Armstrong re-sentenced to life in prison without parole, the automatic sentence for a capital felony in Texas. Both parties will return to court for a pre-trial hearing that day. (source: Brownsville Herald) ** Inmate Awaits His Punishment Next Month The punishment phase for a death row inmate accused of killing a Donna man in 2006 is underway. In 2007 a jury decided on the death sentence for 47-year-old Douglas Armstrong for the death of 60-year-old Rafael Castelan. In November 2017 Armstrong won a new punishment trial. Today a judge granted state prosecutors in the case more time to decide if they'll seek the death penalty. If they choose not to Armstrong will be sentenced to life in prison without parole. Douglas Armstrong is scheduled to return to court on March 19 for his sentencing. (soruce: rgvproud.com) PENNSYLVANIA: Shooter outside O'Halloran's could face death penalty, DA says; 2nd person of interest identified What started out as a simple disagreement in a Lancaster city bar turned deadly when the 4 men involved were asked to leave the premises. Once outside, according to police, Marcus McCain, 29, and his brother Travis, 20, started walking away. That's when 34-year-old Alexander Cruz pulled a handgun and fired "multiple shots," killing Marcus and wounding Travis, acting city police Chief Jarrad P. Berkihiser said at a press conference Monday morning. Cruz, he said, was apparently the only person with a gun at the shooting, which occurred outside O'Halloran's Irish Pub & Eatery, in the 100 block of Fairview Avenue, shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday. "This wasn't a shootout," Berkihiser said. "It was a senseless act of violence." Police recovered 11 .380 caliber shell casings at the scene, according to the affidavit. Marcus McCain "sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his torso" and was pronounced dead at Lancaster General Hospital, the affidavit says. His death was ruled a homicide after an autopsy Monday by Lancaster County Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni. McCain died of multiple gunshot wounds to his body, Diamantoni said. Travis McCain "sustained multiple gunshot wounds to this legs" and "underwent emergency life saving medical treatment" for his injuries, according to the affidavit. He remains in stable condition, Berkihiser said Monday. Police identify victim, arrest Lancaster man for fatal shooting Saturday morning outside O'Halloran's Pub Death penalty an option Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman joined Berkihiser in lauding investigators, who "worked nonstop" since the shooting to identify and locate 2 persons of interest - both of whom were captured on video inside the bar. Cruz was identified after media circulated video footage, which Berkihiser said led to numerous calls from the public within minutes of its release. Cruz, whose last known address is in the 700 block of South Lime Street, was located early Sunday morning at an Ephrata Township home and arrested. He was charged Sunday with 1 count of criminal homicide, 1 count of attempted homicide and 2 firearms violations before District Judge Adam Witkonis. He is being held in Lancaster County Prison. He was denied bail due to the homicide charge, according to court documents. Cruz, according to the affidavit, is prohibited from possessing a firearm because of a robbery conviction in 1999. According to court and newspaper records, he pleaded guilty that year to participating in the armed robbery of a city grocery store. The district attorney's office may pursue the death penalty in this case, Stedman said, although it's still too early to say for sure. Investigators have not uncovered any history between the shooter and the victims prior to the disagreement at O'Halloran's, Stedman added. 2nd person identified The 2nd person of interest in the video has been "identified and located," Berkihiser said. "He has been spoken to." The 2nd man is not being identified by police because he has not been charged with a crime, the acting chief said.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., FLA., OHIO
April 6 TEXASimpending execution Bid To Block Execution Of 'Blood-Drinker' Pablo Vasquez was found guilty of killing a 12-year-old boy and told police he also drank the victim's blood. Pablo Vasquez, 38, a south Texas man who bludgeoned and slashed to death a 12-year-old boy, mutilated the corpse and said he drank the blood of his victim is set to be executed on April 6, 2016 The US Supreme Court has been asked to block the execution of a Texas man who claimed he drank the blood of his young victim. Pablo Lucio Vasquez, 38, is due to be executed by lethal injection after 6pm on Wednesday evening (CDT) for the murder of 12-year-old David Cardenas in 1998. His execution would be the 11th this year in the US and the 6th in Texas. But Vasquez's lawyer James Keegan says several potential jurors in the murder trial may have been improperly excused because they were either against the death penalty or not comfortable imposing such a judgement. Mr Keegan has appealed to the Supreme Court for a reprieve so his claims can be reviewed. But state lawyers oppose the move. Assistant Texas Attorney General Jeremy Greenwell said that any exclusion of potential jury members was legally proper, adding that the latest appeal is "nothing more than a meritless attempt to postpone (Vasquez's) execution". The appeal is the latest in a number of attempts to save Vasquez. The most recent was a month ago and asserted that Vasquez was mentally ill and, therefore, should not be able to be sentenced to death. David Cardenas had been a friend of Vasquez's cousin Andres Rafael Chapa and both boys had been at a party in the Texas border town of Donna with Vasquez and others on 18 April, 1998. Vasquez told police he was drunk and high when voices told him to kill 7th-grader David, beating him with a pipe and then slitting his throat, saying that the devil had told him to "take (the head) away from him". He said Chapa had used a shovel in an attempt to help. Chapa pleaded guilty to murder and is serving a 35-year jail term. Vasquez told detectives that he had later lifted David's body, allowing the blood to drip on his face before drinking it, adding in a statement: "Something just told me to drink". David's body was found missing limbs and nearly decapitated in a vacant field 5 days after the murder. Joseph Orendain, the lead trial prosecutor, described the case as "really horrendous", adding: "Did he drink (the blood)? I don't know." (source: Sky News) PENNSYLVANIA: Luzerne County child killer off death row The last remaining killer from Luzerne County to await execution is officially off death row. After spending the past 23 years appealing his death sentence for molesting and strangling his 3-year-old niece, Michael Bardo, now 46, was resentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole. "This case has lingered through the appeal process and the state court system - and into the federal system - for the past 23 years, routinely tearing open the old wounds associated with revisiting the death of this young, beautiful little child," Assistant District Attorney Jarrett Ferentino said after the hearing. "We have a disposition here that ends all of that." The move takes the death penalty off the table for the last Luzerne County defendant who was still facing it. It has been more than 77 years since an inmate from Luzerne County was actually executed. According to prosecutors, the murder took place in September 1992 after Mr. Bardo came home drunk and found Joelle asleep on a couch with his mother. Mr. Bardo ate some soup and bread, began to molest the sleeping child, then choked her to death when she began to whine, prosecutors say. He later wrapped the girl's body in a garbage bag and threw her body into a South Wilkes-Barre creek. A Luzerne County jury convicted Mr. Bardo of 1st-degree murder and sentenced him to die in 1993 - the last time a Luzerne County jury imposed a death sentence. After years of appeals, Mr. Bardo won a new penalty phase in December 2014. The Supreme Court split on whether a lower court erred in granting Mr. Bardo a new sentencing hearing. Several justices found it "highly unlikely" a jury would have given him life based on expert testimony that Mr. Bardo had a personality disorder, while others said the testimony could have had an impact on the sentence. During a resentencing hearing Tuesday morning, Mr. Ferentino said Joelle's mother, her sole surviving relative, requested prosecutors "not to tear open this old wound." He requested Luzerne County Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. resentence Mr. Bardo - who has agreed to waive all future appeal rights - to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Mr. Bardo spoke only briefly during the hearing, saying "Yes, your honor," when asked if he agreed to give up his right to further appeals. Judge Sklarosky agreed to the res
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., FLA., OHIO
Oct. 31 TEXAS: We're Going to Execute a Man Who Subpoenaed Jesus While Representing Himself Wearing a Purple Cowboy Suit; A Supreme Court decision in Scott Panetti's case should've made it harder to kill delusional prisoners - but it won't save him. 4 years before he murdered his in-laws in Texas, Scott Panetti buried some furniture in his yard. The devil, he claimed, was in it. After he was arrested and charged with the killings, Panetti, who has a history of severe mental illness, represented himself at his capital trial wearing a purple cowboy suit. He called himself "Sarge" and subpoenaed Jesus, among other notables. He lost, of course. The jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death. The case made its way though the appeals courts, eventually reaching the United States Supreme Court, which in 2007 ruled that the state of Texas hadn't adequately evaluated whether Panetti's mental condition allowed him to fully understand the nature of his punishment - a constitutional prerequisite for the death penalty. The court stayed the execution and sent the case back for further proceedings. Panetti was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, delusions, hallucinations, and manic depression - and hospitalized 14 times. Seven years later, Panetti's illness hasn't gone away, but the Supreme Court has given Texas the green light to kill him. The court's decision, announced on October 6 without comment, upheld a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that Panetti was sane enough for execution. The appellate court's decision, in turn, was based in part on the opinion of a Florida psychiatrist who has deemed at least 3 Florida death row inmates with long and well-documented histories of mental illness to be sane enough for the needle. The details in this story, gleaned from hundreds of pages of court documents and other official filings, indicate that Scott Panetti was no malingerer. He began showing signs of serious mental illness in 1981, back when he was still a teenager. By 1992, he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, delusions, auditory hallucinations, and manic depression, and had been hospitalized 14 times. In 1990, for instance, he was involuntarily committed after swinging a cavalry sword at his wife and daughter and threatening to kill his family. He made good on the threat 2 years later, when he shaved his head, donned camo fatigues, broke into his in-laws' house and shot them both at close range in front of his estranged wife and infant daughter. After turning himself in, Panetti blamed the crime on Sarge, one of his recurring hallucinations. God, he said, had ensured that his victims hadn't suffered. Panetti refused to cooperate with his lawyers, who he claimed were conspiring with the cops. In jail, he went off his meds, apparently convinced, as a Gnostic Nazarene, that he'd found a spiritual cure. At the trial, serving as his own lawyer, Panetti rambled incoherently through his defense. Among the hundreds of people he sought to subpoena were not only the Messiah, but John F. Kennedy and the Pope as well. Two jurors later told one of Panetti's lawyers that his behavior had so frightened them that they voted for death largely to make sure he'd never get out of prison. (Texas at that time did not offer the option of life without parole.) 2 months after his sentencing, Panetti tried to waive his right to a lawyer for the appeal - a move tantamount to suicide. But this time, a judge refused his request, ruling that he was not mentally competent to make that choice. Panetti may have been too incompetent to ditch his lawyer, but in 2003 a Texas state court determined, without a hearing, that he was sane enough to kill. His lawyers appealed to the federal district court, and the case ultimately landed before the Supreme Court, where Texas Solicitor General (and now US Senator) Ted Cruz defended the state's right to put Panetti down. In past rulings, the Supreme Court has banned the execution of juveniles and people with intellectual disabilities. And while the court also has ruled that the Constitution forbids executing the severely mentally ill, the justices have been wary of laying down guidelines to determine, in effect, how crazy is too crazy. A blanket ban on executing the mentally ill would have the effect of clearing out a big chunk of America's death row: A study published in June in the Hastings Law Journal looked at the 100 most recent executions and found that 18 of the condemned were diagnosed with schizophrenia, PTSD, or bipolar disorder, while 36 more had other serious mental-health problems or chronic drug addiction that in many cases rendered them psychotic. By failing to offer clear guidance, the court gave psychiatrists great power in deciding who lives and who dies. The legal history isn't pretty. Consider the case of Albert Fish, who was dubbed the "Brooklyn Vampire." In 1935, Fish was convic
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., FLA., OHIO
June 5 TEXASnew execution date Michael Yowell has been given an execution date of October 9; it should be considered serious. Executions under Rick Perry, 2001-present-259 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982-present498 Perry #scheduled execution date-name-Tx. # 260-June 12--Elroy Chester499 261June 26---Kimberly McCarthy500* 262--July 10--Rigoberto Avila, Jr.501 263-July 16-John Quintanilla Jr.---502 264-July 18--Vaughn Ross--503 265-July 31---Douglas Feldman-504 266-Sept. 19--Robert Garza505 267-Sept. 26--Arturo Diaz506 268-Oct. 9-Michael Yowell-507 (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) ** Texas groups among those alleging racially discriminatory remarks made by federal judge A coalition of civil rights organizations filed a judicial misconduct complaint Tuesday against a conservative federal judge for comments she allegedly made during a speech that are seen as discriminatory. Judge Edith Jones of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in New Orleans addressed the University of Pennsylvania law school on Feb. 20. Her comments were not recorded, but five students and one attorney who were in attendance signed affidavits on what was said. Those were used to generate a 12-page complaint filed in New Orleans stating that Jones "has engaged in conduct that is prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts, undermines public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, and creates a strong appearance of impropriety." Jones is accused of saying that certain "racial groups like African-Americans and Hispanics are predisposed to crime," and are "prone to commit acts of violence" and be involved in more violent and "heinous" crimes than people of other ethnicities. The judge also allegedly said Mexicans would prefer to be on death row in the United States than serving prison terms in their native country, and that it's an insult for the U.S. to look to the laws of other countries such as Mexico. The complaint also states that Jones said defendants' claims of racism, innocence, arbitrariness, and violations of international law and treaties are just "red herrings" used by opponents of the death penalty, and that claims of "mental retardation" by capital defendants disgust her. The fact that those defendants were convicted of a capital crime is sufficient to prove they are not "mentally retarded," the complaint alleges Jones to have said. And it alleges she said a death sentence provides a service to capital-case defendants because they are likely to make peace with God only just before their execution. A message seeking comment left at Jones' law office in Houston was not immediately returned Tuesday. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, Jones has served on the court since 1985 and was its chief justice for 7 years, until October 2012. "Students were appalled by her speech," said Katie Naranjo, a spokeswoman for the coalition, which includes the Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Texas Civil Rights Project. Also included in the complaint are the Austin chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Bar Association's Houston affiliate. Naranjo said the coalition is demanding an investigation. She said it took months for those who heard Jones' comments to contact lawyers and verify that they could warrant a formal complaint. It also took time to compile the affidavits, she said. The coalition said Jones' comments resembled those made during the trial of Duane Buck, a black Texan sentenced to death in 1997 for the murder of his former girlfriend and another man. At Buck's trial, a state psychologist listed race as one of several factors in describing the danger he would continue to pose. Though the psychologist was called to the stand by defense lawyers, a prosecutor emphasized the testimony in her closing argument. Later, John Cornyn, then Texas attorney general, identified the case as among six in which race had played an inappropriate role in imposing death sentences. The other inmates all received new sentencing hearings, and they've all been resentenced to death. Buck hasn't received a new hearing. "Judge Jones's comments are frighteningly similar to those that violated Duane Buck's constitutional rights. (source: Associated Press) PENNSYLVANIA: State court rejects dad's appeal in 2008 murder of Lebanon infant The st
