Nov. 25
TEXAS:
Texas judge apologizes for lynching comment about suspect in shooting of San
Antonio cop
A Texas judge has apologized for writing "time for a tree and a rope" on
Facebook about the black man accused of killing a San Antonio police officer.
Burnet County Judge James Oakley has since deleted the comment and issued a
public apology Wednesday, according to the Austin American-Statesman. His
remark has been harshly criticized on social media, many suggesting the
allusion to lynching was racially motivated.
The San Antonio Police Department posted online Monday about the arrest of
31-year-old Otis Tyrone McKane in the slaying of Detective Benjamin Marconi.
Marconi, a 20-year veteran of the department, was shot in the head during a
traffic stop. Police say the shooter pulled up behind the Marconi's squad car,
got out and walked over to the passenger side. The man then fired twice,
killing 50-year-old Marconi.
Oakley shared the Police Department's Facebook post about McKane's arrest. In
the comments, he wrote: "Time for a tree and a rope..."
The judge is the top elected official in Burnet County, which is near Austin.
He was appointed by former Gov. Rick Perry to the board of the Texas Commission
on Law Enforcement. His term expires next year. Oakley also serves on the board
for the Pedernales Electric Cooperative and the Capital Area Council of
Government's executive committee.
People have been posting reviews on the Burnet County Facebook page, calling
Oakley's remark racist and inappropriate.
Oakley called his comment "indeed curt and harsh," the Statesman reported.
"What I should have posted, if anything, is a comment that more clearly
reflects my opinion on the cowardly crime of the senseless murder of a law
enforcement officer," he said in an email to the Statesman.
He said his view of McKane "is the same regardless of ethnicity." He also said
he supports due process and the death penalty.
"I also support the death penalty in cases where the ultimate crime has been
committed and there is clear and complete evidence and where all steps of the
judicial process have been respected," Oakely wrote in the email. "I would also
point out that I am an administrative judge and do not preside over criminal
court."
(source: Dallas Morning News)
**********************
Court allows appeal in case of murdered Fort Worth mom, son----Stephen Dale
Barbee is on death row after being condemned for the suffocations of
34-year-old Lisa Underwood and her son, Jayden.
A federal appeals court is allowing Texas death row inmate Stephen Barbee to
move forward with an appeal contending his trial attorney improperly told
jurors that Barbee was responsible for the February 2005 slayings of his
pregnant ex-girlfriend and her 7-year-old son at their Fort Worth home.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld an appeals claim that Barbee's
trial lawyer was deficient for making the comment to jurors and not having
Barbee's permission to say it to jurors during closing arguments of the trial's
punishment phase. The court rejected several other appeals claims but said
Wednesday it took the action to resolve any doubts in a death penalty case.
The 49-year-old Barbee was condemned for the suffocations of 34-year-old Lisa
Underwood and her son, Jayden.
(source: Associated Press)
PENNSYLVANIA:
Mifflin County's 2017 budget to raise taxes
With a dramatic increase in expenditures looming, the Mifflin County
Commissioners on Wednesday unveiled their proposed county budget for 2017 with
a tax increase totaling 1.75 mills.
Citing 2 huge expense-related activities that are on the horizon, the proposed
spending plan will total $30,486,639, as opposed to the current year's budget
which totaled $25,853,887. Commissioner Lisa Nancollas said the average
property tax rate in the current budget is $541.50. With the tax increase, that
average will rise to $608.10. As a comparison to normal every day purchases,
Nancollas said the $5.55 average monthly increase is less than the price of a
movie ticket, a Big Mac meal, a pack of cigarettes or 2 pounds of hamburger,
among other things.
2 major increases in expenditures explored in detail Wednesday include a
federally mandated requirement that the Mifflin County Correctional Facility be
in compliance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) and the county's
share of the cost of an upcoming death penalty criminal trial.
"All 3 of us worked very hard to develop the best budget for Mifflin County,"
Nancollas said. "These are trying times for Mifflin County. We have urgent
issues. This is a difficult time with the proliferation of regulations."
Commissioner Stephen Dunkle said the federally mandated PREA compliance
represents the biggest cost increase, noting that only 20 of Pennsylvania's 67
counties are in compliance today. He said 1 of the main reasons for that is the
enormous cost associated with compliance. "It's expensive to do and we have to
foot that bill," he explained. "Why is it important to be in compliance? If
we're not, the federal government begins deducting 5 % of federal grant money
for prisons in the 1st year. If we're not compliant in the s2nd year, that goes
to 10 % and so forth and so on. The federal government is putting down the
hammer."
Dunkle said the county must be in compliance to continue housing prisoners from
other counties, including Juniata; the board is expected to approve another
2-year agreement with Juniata County at next week's voting meeting. Dunkle said
in 2014, Mifflin County received $925,000 to house Juniata County inmates. That
number fell slightly to $868,000 in 2015. This year through the end of
September, the amount received totals $850,000.
"If you project that out for the next 3 months, that's $1,100,000 of income to
help offset prison expenses," Dunkle reported. "Our contract with Juniata
County expires at the end of this year. They put out requests for proposals
from other counties, which was prudent on their part. It ended up our real
competition was Centre County. Because of our rate and the travel distance
being less, Juniata County decided to continue with us. But, Juniata County
stipulated that we must become PREA compliant or they will no longer house
their prisoners in our prison. We figured we might as well jump in and get it
done so we can house prisoners from other counties with similar concerns."
One of the largest increases in cost will be the additional staffing PREA
demands. Currently, the county averages 34 full-time corrections officers to
oversee 163 inmates. Also, female and male inmates will have to be held
separately, with plans being made to house all female prisoners in the county's
annex building and moving work release prisoners to the correctional facility.
In addition, the prison's surveillance video camera system will need to be
seriously overhauled.
"Anywhere a prisoner goes you must have coverage by cameras," Dunkle said of
the compliance regulations. Dunkle said the cost to replace and add cameras is
going to be very substantial and one of the primary reasons we have to raise
the taxes at this point."
Commissioner Kevin Kodish outlined the massive cost to the county for an
upcoming capital murder trial in which two individuals are charged with double
homicide and the state has decided to seek the death penalty. Those costs,
Kodish noted, "are out of our control." Kodish said since the death penalty is
being sought, the defendants are required to have death sentence certified
counsel, of which there is only one in Mifflin County. Also, Kodish stated, "If
the defendant doesn't have the means to pay, the county, the taxpayers, will
need to take care of the cost. The county has to pay for all witnesses. If the
judge sees fit to bring a jury in from out of town, those juries are
sequestered. We'd have to pay for lodging and meals. The meter is running."
In summarizing the budget process, Nancollas said, "This has been particularly
difficult. With what we have shown I hope you'll understand and see what we've
gone through and what we've had to do to develop this budget."
Dunkle added, "One of the chief responsibilities of being a county commissioner
is to administer the county. A major component of that is the levying of taxes.
It would be irresponsible at this time with what we're facing not to step up
and do what this job demands. We continue to look at cost savings, however, tax
increases happen. This is only the 2nd increase since 2006 so it's not like
taxes have increased yearly. We will continue to do our best."
Kodish said the commissioners are aware of and concerned about the situation of
county residents.
"We're very limited in terms of choices," he stressed. "When we have this kind
of major expense, we can't print money in the basement of the courthouse. If we
make more personnel cuts we can't meet the needs of residents. I think we did
all we can do at the present time. This is not what we wanted to do. We took a
hard look at everything involved with this."
Nancollas said the proposed budget is currently on display at the county
commissioners' office and invited interested citizens to go there to inspect
it. Passage of the budget will be in December.
(source: The Sentinel)
SOUTH CAROLINA:
Appellate court agrees on throwing out SC death sentence
An appellate court says a South Carolina man should be released from death row
because a prosecutor's "racially coded references" made a fair sentencing
impossible.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that a lower federal court
was right to throw out the death sentence against Johnny O. Bennett.
Bennett has been on South Carolina's death row for 2 decades for the killing of
a 24-year-old man, stabbed more than 60 times with a screwdriver. He was first
sentenced to death in 1997, but that was overturned. A jury sentenced Bennett
to death again in 2000.
In that 2nd trial, before an all-white jury, Solicitor Donnie Myers compared
Bennett, who is black, to "King Kong on a bad day."
Myers didn't return a message seeking comment.
(source: Associated Press)
CALIFORNIA:
Attorney doubted mental competence of man accused of shooting mother, daughter
in Downtown Long Beach
A defense attorney who previously represented an Oklahoma man accused of
gunning down a 4-year-old girl and her mother in downtown Long Beach raised
doubts about the man's mental competence during an unrelated court proceeding,
according to court records.
A judge, however, disagreed, ruling in early November that 22-year-old Brandon
Ivan Colbert was fit to stand trial on charges related to car theft in Los
Angeles.
Colbert had been arrested and booked on those charges in August while Long
Beach police still were searching for him in connection with the slayings of
26-year-old Carina Mancera and her daughter, Jennabel Anaya.
Police have said they're still trying to find a motive for the Aug. 6 killings,
but detectives now believe Colbert waited for Mancera and Anaya before firing
on them with a shotgun as they returned to their apartment near Locust Avenue
and Ninth Street after getting groceries. Police said Colbert took a bus to
California from his home in Tulsa just days before the shooting.
Before Long Beach police zeroed in on Colbert as a suspect, Los Angeles police
arrested him on Aug. 27. In court documents, prosecutors accuse Colbert of
stealing a Range Rover SUV in Los Angeles on Aug. 8.
He pleaded not guilty to 4 felony counts related in the case, according to
court records, but on Sept. 7, Colbert's public defender moved to suspend the
proceedings because she doubted Colbert had the mental ability to help in his
own defense.
It's unclear what prompted Colbert's public defender, Eleanor Schneir, to
question his mental competence. She did not return a voicemail message asking
about the topic.
The judge ruled on Nov. 4 that the criminal case could proceed against Colbert,
but prosecutors dropped the charges 3 days later as he would soon face 2 counts
of murder in the Long Beach case.
By that time, Long Beach police had homed in on a man, later identified as
Colbert, by picking him out from surveillance footage that tied him to the
shooting scene.
Authorities were on a nationwide manhunt for the man, whose name they didn???t
know, until the Los Angeles County crime lab notified detectives on Oct. 31
that DNA from the scene had matched Colbert, who was in county jail in
connection with the car theft, police said.
Long Beach police took custody of Colbert on Nov. 6, and the Los Angeles County
District Attorney's Office charged him Nov. 8 with 2 counts of murder and 1
count of attempted murder in connection with the Long Beach shooting. After
gunning down Mancera and Anaya, Colbert fired at Anaya's father, Luis Anaya,
but missed, according to prosecutors.
Colbert's current public defender has so far not indicated any doubt in the
defendant's mental abilities, according to court records.
Colbert is set to be arraigned on the charges Dec. 20. He's being held without
bail and could face the death penalty if prosecutors choose to pursue it.
(source: Press-Telegram)
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