June 16 TEXAS: Supreme Court shows flaws with death penalty The U.S. Supreme Courts most recent ruling overturning a death-penalty case in Texas shows 2 things. First, the Supreme Court has no confidence that the Texas judicial system can handle capital cases fairly. Second, it has no confidence that the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals can police these problems with fairness. The court overturned the conviction of Thomas Miller-El. He was convicted of a horrific crime in Dallas County. Miller-Els guilt or innocence wasnt the question before the high court. The question is whether Texas was able to give him a fair trial. The courts message: You cant have justice if your system of putting people on trial permits racial discrimination. Miller-El is black. Eleven people in the pool of potential jurors were black. In a trial, each side is given a set number of peremptory challenges. That means attorneys can challenge a prospective jurors ability to be fair without giving a specific reason for striking him from the list. Prosecutors used their peremptory challenges to strike 10 of the 11 prospective black jurors. That might raise some red flags. It didnt in Texas judicial system. To be fair, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals did look at Miller-Els appeal. It suggested that the trial court might want to look at new U.S. Supreme Court ruling. That ruling banned any practice of disqualifying jurors that is racially discriminatory. But the trial court in Dallas didnt see any problem. Just before Miller-El was to be executed, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review his appeal again. It sent the case back to the 5th Circuit Court, broadly hinting that there were problems with the case and that the appellate court should find a way to clean up the mess. The appellate court didnt take the hint. So on Monday, the Supreme Court simply tossed out the conviction. In the majority opinion, Justice David Souter said the judicial systems argument that there just werent any problems with this case were just too weak to believe. For decades, he said, prosecutors in Dallas County "had followed a specific policy of systematically excluding blacks from juries." That, obviously, is a problem. Equally obvious are the other problems that the Supreme Court has cited with the death penalty in Texas in the past. Is it the right to execute people with serious mental illnesses or with mental retardation? How about kids who commit crimes before they are old enough to drink? For a long time, The Daily News has asked the governor to declare a moratorium on the death penalty. The state should give itself a chance to study the problems and address them. It shouldnt keep trying to defend a system when so many people, including most justice on the Supreme Court, question its fairness. (source: Galveston County Daily News) FLORIDA: Miami-Dade police: man charged with murder after baby dies A man was charged with 1st degree murder in the punching death of a 2-year-old boy he was babysitting, Miami-Dade County police said Wednesday. Sam Giullaume, 32, was jailed with no bail. He is charged with 1 count of aggravated child abuse and 1 count 1st degree murder. Toddler Nicholas Ryan was punched in the stomach after Giullaume became frustrated, police said. When the child did not respond afterward, Giullaume drove him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. Investigators said Giullaume is the boyfriend of the child's mother. (source: Associated Press) ALABAMA: Jeremy Jones denies killings in several states Serial killing suspect Jeremy Bryan Jones denies killing anyone and said during a television interview aired on an Atlanta station that authorities in several states have made up alleged confessions. Jones spoke to W-G-C-L in a telephone interview from the Mobile County Jail, where he faces capital murder charges in the September death of Lisa Marie Nichols. Her body was burned in a mobile home in north Mobile County. In the interview broadcast last night, Jones cited the case of missing metro Atlanta hairdresser Patrice Endres, who disappeared mysteriously on April 15th, 2004, in Forsyth County. Earlier this year, authorities there said Jones confessed to killing her and dumping her body in a creek. Jones said authorities have records that he was working in Douglasville at the time. He said that is why he has NOT been charged. Jones is charged with killing a 16-year-old girl in Douglas County who was reported missing in March 2004. He also is charged with a Louisiana murder and has been named a suspect in at least 2 other slayings in Georgia, 2 in Oklahoma and 1 in Missouri. (source: Associated Press) PENNSYLVANIA: DA seeks death penalty John C. Eichinger may die if convicted of the stabbing deaths of 2 women who reportedly spurned his advances and two "incidental" witnesses - a sister and a 3-year-old child - to one of those slayings. Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. Tuesday announced he would seek the death penalty for Eichinger, a 33-year-old Somers Point, N.J., man who is charged with four murders in the county. These killings include the three Good Friday murders of Heather Greaves, 27, her sister Lisa Greaves, 23, and Heather's 3-year-old daughter, Avery Johnson, all of whom lived at the Greaves' family residence in the 500 block of Kingwood Road, King of Prussia. Eichinger, a supermarket employee who engaged in role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons, also is charged with the July 6, 1999, stabbing death of Jennifer Still, 20, of Bridgeport. That crime went unsolved until authorities, investigating the triple murder, noticed similarities between the wounds of those 3 victims and Still's wounds. Castor described the stabbing deaths as "particularly brutal and grotesque killings." "Knife murders are generally much more personal because they require a person to get right up close to the victim and multiple stabbings are very bloody and messy, leaving grotesque crime scenes," said Castor. He referred to Eichinger as a serial killer, explaining "every time you have this jilted-lover situation he is likely to commit a crime and that is the classic pattern for a serial killer." The killing of the young child and Lisa Greaves were "incidental" to the murder of the main victim, who was Heather Greaves, said Castor. If Eichinger had not been apprehended following the triple stabbings, it is likely he would have killed again the next time his romantic overtures were spurned, according to Castor. Among the aggravating factors that warrant the death penalty, are the multiple killings, the killing of a child and the earlier Still murder Castor said. Castor's comments came during and after Eichinger's formal arraignment on the charges against him. Eichinger, sitting with his hands clasped in front of him and his eyes downcast, did not speak nor did he enter any plea. "My client stands mute at this time," said defense attorney William McElroy. Judge William R. Carpenter subsequently entered a not-guilty plea in Eichinger's behalf to keep the legal process moving forward. McElroy, stating his client did not have to enter a plea, declined further comment on that or Castor's intention to seek the death penalty. Castor speculated that McElroy might be exploring options concerning Eichinger's mental health. The father of the 2 Greaves sisters discovered the bodies of his two daughters and his granddaughter on March 25 when he returned from work at about 4:30 p.m. One of the neighbors told authorities that she saw Eichinger, whom she knew as a co-worker of Heather Greaves at a nearby Acme supermarket, leave the house earlier in the day wearing what appeared to be a blood-stained shirt and holding a rag over his hand. Questioned that night about the killings, Eichinger initially said he had had no contact with Greaves. However, according to the criminal complaint, he later admitted to the triple killings, explaining he had wanted to have a romantic relationship with Heather Greaves but that she was becoming serious with a new boyfriend, according to the criminal complaint. Investigators, prompted by the similarities in the distinctive and unusual stab wounds and location of those wounds, also asked him about the Still murder. Eichinger then confessed to that slaying, once again explaining that he had wanted a romantic relationship with Still and became angry when she spurned him for another man. No trial date has been scheduled. Eichinger will remain in the county prison without bail until his trial. (source: King of Prussia Courier) CALIFORNIA: 2 BAY AREA DEMOCRATS CO-AUTHOR BILL ON EXECUTION MORATORIUM Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-San Jose, announced today that she is co-authoring a bill calling for a moratorium on executions in California. Assembly Bill 121 was introduced today by Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood. The bill calls for a 2-year suspension of executions until a bipartisan panel approved by the state Senate can provide a report on execution policy. The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice was established in 2004 to examine how the state's criminal justice system could have failed in the past. If approved, the bill calls for the commission to make reform recommendations to the state Legislature by December 2007. Lieber cited the possibility that innocent people have been incarcerated and sometimes executed as the main reason for the moratorium. "I support a death penalty that is imposed without prejudice and administered fairly," Lieber said in a written statement. "Yet I also believe that we must constantly examine the fairness of our criminal justice system and ensure that the implementation of the death penalty is morally defensible." Lieber also highlighted recent studies showing that federal courts have reversed many death sentences affirmed by the California Supreme Court. There are currently 640 inmates awaiting execution in California, the most in any state. Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, also co-authored the bill. If approved, the moratorium would end on Jan 1, 2009. The 1st vote on the bill is expected in January 2006. (source: Bay City News Wire)
