April 26
TEXAS----death sentence overturned
Christian Olsen's death sentence overturned
The death sentence of a 24-year-old Bryan man who fatally beat and strangled
his 68-year-old neighbor was overturned Wednesday after an appeals court ruled
that jurors should have heard from an expert who believed the man was a victim
of sexual abuse.
The 8-to-1 ruling by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals comes more than 4
years after Christian Olsen was convicted of capital murder.
That conviction remains intact, but Olsen may not receive a new punishment
trial to determine his sentence. That trial can only end with 2 results: life
in prison without parole or another death sentence.
District Attorney Bill Turner said his office will review the situation and
talk with the victim's family before deciding how to proceed.
Olsen's lawyer, Billy Carter, said he was pleased with the court's decision and
hopes to have the case resolved soon.
"We are hoping that the DA's office will review everything and might decide not
to seek death," he said.
In that case, there would be no trial. Olsen would be automatically sentenced
to life in prison. If the case does go back to trial, it likely won't happen
until next year, lawyers said.
Olsen was 19 when he was arrested in 2006 and charged with the murder of Etta
Jean Westbrook, his across-the-street neighbor on Oak Hollow Drive near Bryan
High School.
A few weeks after his arrest, he was also charged with the murder of
63-year-old Geraldine Lloyd, the mother of Olsen's girlfriend, who was found
buried in her own backyard. Authorities later determined that Olsen had been
living in Lloyd's house with Lloyd's daughter and granddaughter for months
after the murder.
The former Bryan High School student was never tried for the slaying of Lloyd,
but prosecutors presented evidence that he committed the crime during the 2
1/2-week punishment phase of his trial for the Westbrook killing. The jury of 4
men and 8 women deliberated for about 8 hours before sentencing him to death.
Defense attorneys argued that Olsen had been manipulated into committing the
murders by Lloyd's daughter, Kelly Sifuentez. Olsen and Sifuentez had a sexual
relationship that began when he was 14, they said. She was in her mid-30s at
the time, they said.
But the jury never heard from Donna Vandiver, a criminal justice expert at
Texas State University who was one of the defense's key witnesses. Vandiver
reviewed Olsen's case and concluded that Sifuentez's actions toward Olsen were
consistent with the way that a female sex offender "grooms" her victims.
Prosecutors objected to Vandiver's statements, saying she hadn't spoken with
Olsen or Sifuentez and wasn't qualified to testify. District Judge Steve Smith
agreed and didn't allow her to take the witness stand.
The Court of Criminal Appeals disagreed.
"Olsen's inappropriate relationship with Sifuentez, and its potential negative
effect on him, were the core of the defense's cast at punishment," wrote Judge
Michael Keasler in the court's majority opinion.
Keasler later added: "Her testimony would have educated the jury concerning the
harmful effects and influence that a relationship like the one between
Sifuentez and Olsen could have on a teenaged boy, and the typical behavioral
problems exhibited by the victims of such relationships."
The lead prosecutor in the case, Shane Phelps, said he was disappointed in the
court's decision, mostly for the family of the victims. He said he believes the
jury would have reached the same verdict if it had heard Vandiver's testimony.
"No lawyer likes to be reversed, but death penalty cases are different," he
said, explaining that judges must be extra careful in capital murder cases.
Phelps no longer works at the Brazos County District Attorney's Office, so he
will have no say in how the case is handled moving forward.
Westbrook's son declined to comment when reached by phone Wednesday.
(source: The Eagle)
******************************** impending execution
Convicted killer in East Texas holdup set to die
A Texas inmate looked to the U.S. Supreme Court to spare him a trip to the
death chamber for an East Texas man's slaying 10 years ago during a convenience
store robbery.
Beunka Adams faces lethal injection Thursday evening in Huntsville. The
29-year-old Adams is 1 of 2 men sent to death row for the 2002 fatal shooting
of Kenneth Vandever. The 37-year-old Vandever and 2 women clerks at the store
robbed in Rusk in 2002 were abducted and shot. Both women survived, although 1
of them also was raped.
Adams earlier this week won a reprieve from a federal judge, but state
attorneys Wednesday won an appeal overturning the order.
Adams' lawyers are asking for a Supreme Court review of the case.
(source: Associated Press)
******************
One Slated, One Stayed----Rick Perry's death tally notches another this week
On the eve of the state's 482nd execution since reinstatement of the death
penalty, a federal court on April 24 issued a stay for Beunka Adams, who was
slated to be executed tonight. Adams was convicted of the robbery and murder of
Kenneth Wayne Vandever in 2002. Adams and co-defendant Richard Cobb were
convicted of robbing a Rusk convenience store and then kidnapping Vandever and
2 female clerks. The pair then reportedly drove the 3 to a field, sexually
assaulted one of the women and shot all 3; the women survived, but Vandever did
not. Adams has lamented his involvement in the robbery – "Due to financial
burdans [sic], confusion, and drug abuse ... I ended up getting into something
I deeply regret," he wrote in 2004 – but has also written online that he was
not the triggerman. Adams alleges that although Cobb confessed to shooting the
trio, that information was suppressed during his trial. Both men were given the
death penalty. Cobb is still on death row. A federal judge in Texarkana stayed
Adams' execution reportedly in order to give the court an opportunity to
consider whether Adams received ineffective assistance of counsel during the
early stages of his appeal.
Also scheduled to die, on May 2, is Anthony Bartee, even though advocates say
further DNA testing is needed in his case. Bartee was slated to be executed
earlier this year, but he was given a reprieve so that never-before-tested DNA
evidence could be analyzed. He was sentenced to die for the 1996 murder in San
Antonio of his friend David Cook. According to the state, Bartee shot the
37-year-old in the head and neck and then fled the scene on Cook's motorcycle.
Reportedly Bartee has maintained his innocence; he was with Cook at the time of
the crime but was not the doer. His previous date with death was cancelled so
that hairs found clutched in Cook's hand could be tested; now, however, the
Texas Coalition To Abolish the Death Penalty reports that although that testing
is not yet completed, state District Judge Mary Román has issued a new death
warrant for next week.
(source: Austin Chronicle)
LOUISIANA----stay of impending execution
Judge grants stay of Wessinger's Execution
A federal judge in Baton Rouge has granted a temporary stay of execution for a
man convicted in the 1995 slaying of two workers at a now-closed restaurant.
Todd Wessinger was scheduled to be executed May 9 but U.S. District Judge James
Brady granted the stay while he reviews arguments presented Wednesday by his
attorneys, who asked for a permanent stay of the death penalty order.
Brady did not say when he would rule on the request.
Wessinger, a former dishwasher at a now-closed Calendar's restaurant, was found
guilty and sentenced to die by lethal injection for fatally shooting
27-year-old Stephanie Guzzardo and 46-year-old David Breakwell on Nov. 19,
1995.
(source: KLFY News)
VIRGINIA:
Suit opposes injectionsDepartment of Corrections follows incorrect execution
protocol, attorneys allege
The Virginia Department of Corrections may be misusing procedures of medicine,
anesthesiology and pharmacy when administering lethal injections, according to
a complaint filed earlier this week by Alexandria attorneys Meghan Shapiro and
Christopher Leibig.
Shapiro and Leibig allege individuals who do not hold a medical or
pharmaceutical license, but are still administering lethal injections, are
legally prohibited from administering or distributing any kind of drugs or
medicine.
Since Virginia executioners are not licensed medical professionals, Shapiro, a
criminal defense attorney who exclusively represents men and women indicted for
capital murder, said in a press release Virginia Department of Corrections
officers and employees are illegally administering lethal injections.
“I would like to see the Richmond City Circuit Court require the Department of
Corrections to comply with all of Virginia’s laws and regulations, including
those concerning the administration of anesthesia and the handling of
controlled chemicals,” Shapiro said in an email. “It is important that someone
holds the Department of Corrections accountable. They should not be permitted
to operate outside the law.”
The suit details how, when carrying out executions, the Department of
Corrections employees have previously failed to check if an inmate is
unconscious before proceeding to dispense drugs to paralyze, suffocate and stop
the patient’s heart. They are also accused of administering recalled or
non-approved drugs and documenting the administration of executions improperly.
Richard Dieter, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center
in Washington, D.C., said Virginia’s lethal injection practices are not
necessarily the same as those used in other states.
“[The case] has nothing to do with the death penalty, but people offering
themselves as doctors when they’re really not,” Dieter said. “Obviously these
guards and wardens have the provisions to [perform the injection] under the
death penalty law, but there are other laws in conflict with [the death penalty
law] … this is still a matter for the courts to decide if [the Department of
Corrections is] breaking the law.”
In administering a lethal injection, a barbiturate is used to put the inmate to
sleep, followed by a drug which paralyzes the patient so he does not show pain
from the ensuing heart attack, said Stephen Northup, the executive director of
Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. The deadly lethal injection
shot is administered last.
Shapiro has requested information from the Department of Corrections under the
Freedom of Information Act from the past year to supplement her case, in
addition to reading other public documents from prior court cases challenging
Virginia’s method of execution. She said corrections officers do not check
whether the anesthesia was effective and inmates are unconscious before
administering the lethal injection shot, and added if the inmate is not
unconscious, the lethal injection can cause excruciating pain.
“The fields of anesthesiology and pharmacy are highly regulated by the
Commonwealth of Virginia, but the Department of Corrections is acting outside
those laws when they use controlled, prescription drugs during lethal
injections,” Shapiro said. “Nobody viewing the execution would know that the
inmate was suffering, because one of the drugs paralyzes the inmate’s entire
body, preventing them from moving, screaming out, or even making a facial
expression.”
The attorney general’s office and the Department of Corrections declined to
comment on the complaint, as it is pending litigation.
Dieter said Virginia may have to review its execution process and even delay
executions until the issue is resolved or the state and the attorneys can reach
a solution which does not require executioners to act as doctors.
“This is not trying to get rid of the death penalty, but it’s trying to change
the process,” Dieter said. “The people who are doing the executions now are not
the experts. The lawyers are trying to avoid painful executions, or a
malpractice, not the execution itself.”
Northup said some of the methods used to obtain drugs for injection are under
investigation as well.
“The challenges in recent years have said that because of the potential for
pain from drugs, [lethal injection] is a violation of the Eighth Amendment, but
no one has thought to [point out that] they are not licensed,” Northup said.
“[The Department of Corrections] has had trouble getting a hold of drugs in the
first place because no one wants their drugs to be used to kill people. There
have been a couple of instances where the DOC [Department of Corrections] got
the drugs in a sneaky fashion and used them after their expiration date had
come and gone.”
(source: The Cavalier Daily)
CONNECTICUT:
Connecticut Repeals Death Penalty
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy quietly signed a new law Wednesday that ends the state's
death penalty for future crimes, making Connecticut the 17th state to abolish
capital punishment.
The Democrat signed the bill behind closed doors, without fanfare. An aide said
Malloy was surrounded by lawmakers, clergy and family members of murder
victims.
While he called it "an historic moment," Malloy said in a written statement
that it was a moment "for sober reflection, not celebration."
The bill, which became effective immediately, was signed on the same day that a
new Quinnipiac University Poll showed that 62 % of registered voters in
Connecticut still favor the death penalty for those convicted of murder. The
same survey found 47 % of voters disapprove of Malloy's handling of the issue,
while 33 % approve. "Many of us who have advocated for this position over the
years have said there is a moral component to our opposition to the death
penalty. For me, that is certainly the case," he said. "But that does not mean
— nor should it mean — that we question the morality of those who favor capital
punishment. I certainly don't."
Amnesty International USA praised Malloy for signing the bill. Connecticut
joins 16 other states and the District of Columbia. "Lawmakers in Connecticut
finally saw the death penalty for what it is — a barbaric and irreversible
punishment that does nothing to stop crime nor its victims," said Suzanne
Nossel, the organization's executive director, who credited the family members
of murder victims for supporting the legislation and working to get the bill
passed.
A former prosecutor, Malloy said he used to support the death penalty but his
position evolved over the years. "I learned firsthand that our system of
justice is very imperfect," he said, adding how he saw people who were poorly
served by their lawyers, wrongly accused or mistakenly identified, as well as
discriminated against. "In bearing witness to those things, I came to believe
that doing away with the death penalty was the only way to ensure it would not
be unfairly imposed," Malloy said.
Earlier this month, the Democratic-controlled General Assembly passed
legislation repealing the death penalty for only future crimes and not the 11
men currently on Connecticut's death row. The legislation requires that people
convicted under the new law would be subject to prison conditions similar to
those now experienced by condemned inmates.
Opponents of the repeal legislation included Dr. William Petit Jr., the only
survivor of a 2007 home invasion in which 2 paroled burglars killed his wife
and 2 daughters. Last year, Petit successfully lobbied state senators to hold
off on repeal legislation while 1 of the 2 killers was still facing a death
penalty trial.
In more than half a century, Connecticut has executed only one person — serial
killer Michael Ross, who volunteered for the lethal injection in 2005.
The Quinnipiac Poll also showed that 51 % of voters disapprove of the
legislature's handling of the issue, compared to 29 % who approve. Asked,
however, about which type of punishment they prefer for convicted murderers —
the death penalty or life in prison without chance of parole — registered
voters were split, 46 % to 46 %.
The telephone survey of 1,745 voters has a margin of sampling error of plus or
minus 2.4 % points.
(source: TIME Magazine)
USA (GEORGIA)----possible federal death sentence
Jurors to deliberate federal death penalty case
A jury will begin a 2nd day of deliberations on the fate of a federal inmate
who faces the death penalty for killing his cellmate at the U.S. Penitentiary
in Atlanta.
The jury will return Thursday to consider the case of Brian Richardson, who was
convicted last month of the July 2007 killing of Steven Obara.
Prosecutors say Richardson is a cold-blooded killer who targeted the
60-year-old Obara after learning he was a child molester. They also told the
jury he has a long history of violence behind bars that included attacking a
guard and other inmates.
Defense lawyers argue that Richardson was mentally ill at the time but has
since stabilized after receiving proper medication.
Richardson could be the 1st person sentenced to death in federal court since
June.
(source: Associated Press)
******************************
Growing up in the Deep South as a Democrat, I’ve learned how important it is to
respect views that oppose mine. I do respect them; if someone has good backing
for why they believe a certain way then that’s fine—we all have different
backgrounds, personalities and religious beliefs. I’ve been a Democrat since I
started paying attention to politics in high school, but I was brought up in a
moderately liberal family. I am pro-choice and against the death penalty. I’m
writing in response to an editorial piece that was written expressing the exact
opposite views from mine. While I fully respect the writer and her opinions,
I’m speaking on behalf of myself, a Democrat with serious concern for woman’s
health issues, my college organization and my party. I’ll start with the death
penalty. Fundamentally I do not think it is logical to kill another human being
to prove that murder is wrong. I understand that if we kept everyone alive in
the jails for lifetime sentences then it would be exorbitantly expensive to
feed and take care of them, as well as incredibly difficult to find space for
all of them in our prisons. It’s a logistics issue. However, in many cases it
is more expensive to sentence people to death because of the appeal process. I
also think that in legalizing marijuana we would free tons of space in the
jails by freeing people who don’t need to be in jail anyway, but that’s a topic
for a different day. I believe that no person should be permitted by the
government or any other group to kill another human being. It’s still murder,
even if the society or a governing group says it’s OK. Killing to show that
killing is wrong just doesn’t make sense, especially with the risk of putting
someone to death who hasn’t committed a crime. Troy Davis, anyone? Personally,
I believe abortion should only be used as a last resort—if the woman’s life is
in danger by carrying the pregnancy or in labor—or in cases of incest or rape.
I don’t believe I could ever have an abortion myself, but the key to that whole
statement is “personally.” No, I don’t think abortion should be used when it
doesn’t have to, but that’s my opinion. I still believe it is a woman’s health
issue because it is something that’s going on inside of her body. I don’t have
the right to put my opinions on her and control her with them, nor does the
government or anyone else. No one but the woman herself should be making
decisions for her health and her body. On the point of the fetus, the only
place where it is “proven” that the child is alive at the point of conception
is in a religious document. I’m not trying to disrespect anyone; I’m an
Episcopalian and I have a very strong faith, but in a country where freedom of
religion is a founding law, we should not have laws that are even vaguely based
on something from the Bible, or from a text of any other religion. Our Deist
Founding Fathers made very certain to protect the freedom to believe or not
believe as the individual sees fit. I think that this is a very important point
because we do not know when the life begins in a fetus. We do know that
absolutely, the woman who is pregnant is very much alive. We should protect her
rights as our first priority. As an individual, I would not choose to have an
abortion. As a woman, I support all women in making their own decisions
regarding that issue. But it should be theirs to make and no one else’s. As for
the death penalty, there are much better ways to protect society from a
murderer than for someone to take that person’s life as well. Natalie Donnel
----sophomore, history
(source: The (Auburn University) Auburn Plainsman)
ARIZONA:
Ariz. lawyer 'disturbed' by inmate's shaking during execution, wants to know if
he was in pain
The attorney for an Arizona death-row inmate executed Wednesday said he was
"very disturbed" after seeing his client shake for several seconds upon
receiving his lethal injection, and he wants to find out if the man felt any
unnecessary pain.
Thomas Arnold Kemp, 63, was executed at the state prison in Florence for
killing a Tucson college student after robbing him of $200 in July 1992.
Kemp lay strapped to a table in the death chamber as he delivered his final
words: "I regret nothing." He then nodded and smiled at his attorney, Tim
Gabrielsen, looked at the ceiling and calmly waited.
As the 1-drug execution began, Kemp's eyes closed and his body visibly shook
for several seconds before he went quiet and appeared to fall asleep with a few
deep breaths. His time of death was 10:08 a.m.
Gabrielsen later told The Associated Press he was concerned about his client's
shaking and was considering what action could be taken to determine if Kemp
experienced pain, including an autopsy by an independent pathologist.
"It was unmistakable," said Gabrielsen, who has witnessed one other execution.
"He was shaking very violently. We're very disturbed by that."
In the past 9 Arizona executions attended by the AP since 2007, no other
inmates shook as they were given a lethal injection.
State Department of Corrections spokesman Bill Lamoreaux said Kemp was offered
a mild sedative before the execution but turned it down.
"Also, the air conditioner was on and he expressed he was a little chilly,"
Lamoreaux said in an email to the AP. "The air conditioner was turned off, and
(Corrections Director Charles Ryan) personally directed the inmate be covered
with a couple of blankets."
All inmates executed in Arizona are offered a sedative, but the vast majority
decline it.
Kemp was executed using one drug, pentobarbital. Most states use a three-drug
process and "the 2nd drug would mask any movement or pain," said Richard
Deiter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in
Washington, D.C.
Deiter said it's hard to know if Kemp "had a strong adverse reaction" to the
pentobarbital.
"Sometimes it depends on the individual," he said. "Maybe he had an unknown
(medical) problem."
Jonathan Groner, an Ohio State University surgeon who has studied lethal
injection extensively, said high doses of pentobarbital are associated with
seizures, and that may have caused Kemp's shaking.
"The problem is the people that give it are not physicians. They try to push it
as fast as possible," Groner said. "It's nothing anyone would do in a hospital
or medical center. It's not a very good way to kill people."
Kemp was sentenced to death for kidnapping Hector Soto Juarez from outside
Juarez's Tucson home on July 11, 1992, and robbing him before taking him into
the desert near Marana, forcing him to undress and shooting him twice in the
head.
Juarez, 25, had just left his apartment and fiance to get food when Kemp and
Jeffery Logan spotted him. They held him at gunpoint and used his debit card to
withdraw $200 before driving him to the Silverbell Mine area, where Kemp killed
Juarez.
The 2 men then went to Flagstaff, where they kidnapped a married couple
traveling from California to Kansas and made them drive to Durango, Colo.,
where Kemp raped the man in a hotel room. Later, Kemp and Logan forced the
couple to drive to Denver, where the couple escaped. Logan soon after separated
from Kemp and called police about Juarez's murder.
Logan led police to Juarez's body, and Kemp was arrested. Logan was later
sentenced to life in prison.
With 3 lethal injections already this year, Arizona could match its record year
for executions.
Arizona executed Robert Henry Moormann on Feb. 29 and Robert Charles Towery on
March 8. Another inmate, Samuel Villegas Lopez, is scheduled to be executed May
16 for the brutal rape and murder of a Phoenix woman.
3 other inmates who are near the end of their appeals also could be put to
death this year, putting the state on pace to execute 7 men in 2012.
Arizona established its death penalty in 1910. Since then, the most inmates
Arizona has executed in a given year was 7 in 1999.
(source: Associated Press)
CALIFORNIA:
Jury selection to conclude Monday for trial of accused cop killer
The last panel of prospective jurors for the trial of an ex-con accused of
gunning down a Riverside police officer was questioned today about capital
punishment and whether any of the prospects would have reservations
recommending the death penalty if the defendant is convicted.
“It’s never an easy thing to think about or render, but I think I could,” one
prospective juror told Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Mike Hestrin.
“It’s a heavy decision to make, but it needs to be made,” another man told
Hestrin.
67 jurors remain from an original pool of 300 summoned to the Riverside Hall of
Justice by Superior Court Judge Jean Leonard over the last 2 weeks.
A panel of 19 jurors — including seven alternates — is expected to be sworn in
Monday for the trial of Earl Ellis Green, who could face a death sentence if
convicted in the Nov. 7, 2010, slaying of 27-year-old Officer Ryan Patrick
Bonaminio.
Opening statements are slated to follow immediately after the jurors are
seated.
Several of the prospective panelists questioned today said they were opposed to
capital punishment, or would agonize over having to make a decision that could
send a man to death row.
“I really don’t think I could do this,” a man told Hestrin. “I have too much
stress. I’m frazzled very easily.”
One woman broke down in tears.
“At the end of the day, it’s a personal, moral decision regarding what the
ultimate penalty should be,” the prosecutor said, thanking the prospects for
their honesty. “It’s a decision that lasts forever.”
Green is charged with 1st-degree murder and special circumstance allegations of
killing a peace officer and committing a murder to avoid arrest, as well as
charges of vehicle theft and being a convicted felon in possession of a
firearm. He’s being held without bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center in
Riverside.
The 46-year-old parolee allegedly killed Bonaminio after the officer attempted
to arrest him on suspicion of fleeing a hit-and-run crash.
Investigators said the officer did not realize Green had allegedly stolen the
vehicle involved in the collision and had no way of knowing the defendant’s
background immediately before their confrontation.
The only eyewitness to the shooting, Stephen McQueen, testified at a March 2011
preliminary hearing that Bonaminio was chasing a suspect through Fairmount park
when the lawman slipped trying to turn at the corner of a building, falling
into a planter.
The groundskeeper said the suspect immediately pounced on the officer, striking
him three times in the upper body with what appeared to be a “pipe or a stick.”
Green allegedly grabbed Bonaminio’s sidearm and leveled it at the injured
officer as he struggled to his feet, begging the defendant not to shoot,
according to investigators.
McQueen testified that the assailant, whom he never identified in court, fired
3 shots, 2 of which struck the policeman in the face and head, causing him to
collapse face first.
According to McQueen, the suspect fled through the park, jumped into a
yellow-colored semi truck with no trailer and drove off. A dashboard camera
mounted on the slain officer’s patrol unit captured a man purported to be Green
running away from Bonaminio and returning to the truck less than 3 minutes
later.
Bonaminio, an Iraq War veteran, was discovered moments later by fellow officers
and rushed to Riverside Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Green, who has a rap sheet spanning more than 2 decades, was identified through
a fingerprint match, leading to his arrest outside a Target store in Riverside
2 days later.
Search warrants served at his Rubidoux residence at 5161 34th St. and another
property led to the recovery of Bonaminio’s .40 caliber Glock pistol,
authorities said.
The trial is expected to last about eight weeks.
(source: Southwest Riverside News Network)
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