July 4
TEXAS:
Houston 'honor killings' death penalty trial breaks for 4th of July
The Houston death penalty trial of a father accused of killing his son-in-law
and his daughter's best friend to restore his honor after his daughter
converted to Christianity will resume Thursday afternoon after taking off the
4th of July.
Irsan, 60, a Jordanian immigrant and devout Muslim, is accused of killing his
son-in-law, Coty Beavers, 28, and his daughter's best friend because she
supported his daughter's conversion to Christianity and marriage to a
Christian.
Prosecutors have said Irsan, who lived in a rural Montgomery County compound
with his 12 children, planned to kill his daughter, Nesreen, as well. He wanted
to slay the people she loved first "so she would suffer more," prosecutors
said.
Opening statements are set to begin Monday in the death penalty trial of a
Jordanian immigrant accused in a pair of "honor killings" that shocked Houston.
Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan's prosecution is the 1st death penalty trial this year
in Harris County and the 1st one since District Attorney Kim Ogg took office in
January 2017. He was charged with capital murder because his alleged crime
involved multiple victims - his daughter's best friend, Gelareh Bagherzadeh, an
Iranian medical student and activist, and his daughter's husband, Coty Beavers,
28. Both slayings, authorities said, were driven by the anger of Irsan, a
conservative Muslim, over his daughter Nesreen's decision to marry Beavers, a
Christian from Houston.
Defense attorneys for Irsan told jurors in opening statements of the trial that
the killings, 11 months apart in 2012, were not connected and that Irsan was
not involved with either.
By alleging that the two shootings were part of the same scheme, prosecutors
can seek the death penalty under Texas law.
Special prosecutors Jon Stephenson, Marie Primm and Anna Emmons are handling
the case after Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, citing previous
involvement in the case by a top aide, recused her office from the prosecution.
Irsan is being defended by Allen Tanner and Rudy Duerte.
The trial, in its 2nd week of testimony, is expected to last 6 weeks in state
District Judge Jan Krocker's court. The trial is being held in Houston's
federal courthouse downtown because the Harris County Criminal Justice Center
has not recovered from damage sustained in August during Hurricane Harvey.
(source: Houston Chronicle)
COLORADO:
Defense in Galloway death-penalty case: 'End it now' and impose life sentence
An El Paso County jury is deliberating a question that could bring a convicted
double-murderer one step closer to his death.
At issue in the case of Glen Law Galloway is whether mitigation outweighs
aggravation - the focus of the 2nd stage of Galloway's sentencing after he was
convicted last week in the back-to-back shootings of Marcus Anderson and Janice
Nam in May 2016.
Depending on the panel's answer to that question, Galloway will receive life in
prison without parole or move on to to a final stage in which prosecutors must
state their case for putting him on death row.
The issue went to the 9-man, 3-woman panel about 10 a.m. Tuesday after nearly 3
dozen witnesses over 4 days attested to Galloway's good character before his
attorneys say he "snapped" in the fallout of a toxic relationship with Nam.
"End it now," public defender Dan King exhorted the jury, citing Galloway's
decades-long record as a hard worker, a loving father to 2 sons and a stepson,
and dependable brother and friend.
Colorado law reserves capital punishment for the "worst crimes and most
culpable defendants" such as serial killers and terrorists, King argued, not
someone who lost control after 4 decades as a law-abiding man.
"Mr. Galloway is not just the worst thing that he's done," King said. "He's
committed many acts of kindness, friendship, service, love and duty."
In a biting rebuttal, prosecutor Donna Billek told the jury the defense failed
to show why he shouldn't be put to death - only excuses and examples of poor
character.
She said the testimony revealed Galloway as angry, arrogant and unrepentant -
rude to his mother, controlling in personal relationships and dismissive of
boundaries, including the criminal justice system he defied when he cut off an
ankle monitor and went into hiding before killing Anderson and storming into
Nam's home in a deadly invasion under cover of night.
"He is who he is, it is everybody else's fault, and he's never going to
change," Billek said.
"He defined himself," she added. "He made himself a murderer. He is the worst
thing he's done."
Billek played a video of a jail visit in which Galloway laughed with his sons
about throwing a laptop in court on the opening day in trial - evincing his
lack of remorse and producing an example of his parenting style, she said.
"What about this is so laughable?" Billek asked. "What is so funny?"
Galloway attorney Kim Chalmers said the laptop incident came during "the most
stressful" point in Galloway's life and that he had avoided disruptions since.
The defense asked the panel to consider the effect of a death sentence on
Galloway's mother, Bonnie Galloway of Columbus, Ohio, who attended the trial
every day, and on Galloway's children, his extended family and the
ex-girlfriends who said they remain friendly with him.
"The fact that they need him in their lives is mitigation," King said.
In arguing mitigation, attorneys clashed over some of the most intimate details
of Galloway's life, from his rough upbringing in Columbus, to his transfer to
Colorado Springs with the Army in the early 1990s, to his career as an
equipment maintainer in the civilian world, where he worked at microchip
manufacturers in Colorado Springs and Austin, Texas.
Among those who testified were his former wrestling coach, his high school
Spanish teacher and the 16-year-old daughter of an ex-girlfriend who said she
still sees Galloway as a father figure.
(source: Colorado Springs Gazette)
IDAHO:
Idaho Man Could Face Death Penalty As Girl, 3, Dies
A 3-year-old Idaho girl who was stabbed at her birthday party died Monday, two
days after a man invaded the celebration and attacked nine people with a knife,
the Associated Press reports. Timmy Kinner is accused of stabbing a group of
children and the adults who tried to protect them at the party at an apartment
complex that is home to many refugee families. Ada County Magistrate Judge
Russell Comstock told Kinner he was "an extreme danger to the community" and
ordered him held without bond.
Kinner, 30, is American, and the victims are members of refugee families from
Syria, Iraq and Ethiopia. Boise Police Chief William Bones said the evidence
does not suggest the attack was a hate crime. The suspect had recently stayed
at the apartment complex but was asked to leave Friday over bad behavior, Bones
said. Kinner appeared in court through closed-circuit video. He told the judge
he didn't understand the charges or proceedings. 3 stabbing victims were
adults, the others children: the 3-year-old girl who died, 2 4-year-olds, a
6-year-old, an 8-year-old, and a 12-year-old. Kinner could be eligible for
execution under Idaho law. Monday evening, 1,500 people turned out at a vigil
honoring members of refugee families targeted in the stabbing. Signs were
dotted throughout the crowd, some reading "love wins" and "we are all
immigrants."
(source: thecrimereport.org)
NEVADA----impending volunteer execution
NDOC Releases More Details About Next Week's Execution----The Nevada Department
of Corrections has released more details about next week's execution of Scott
Dozier, including a timeline of events.
The Nevada Department of Corrections has released more details about next
week's execution of Scott Dozier.
Dozier is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at Ely State Prison on
July 11th. It'll be the 1st execution carried out by the state in 12 years.
Redacted documents details procedures leading up to Dozier's execution.
Officials plan to use a never-tried 3-drug cocktail that was the subject of a
court fight. The drugs haven't expired despite some questions about whether
they had.
The protocol includes an anti-anxiety drug, the powerful painkiller fentanyl
and a paralyzing drug that attorneys who challenged the execution say could
mask any signs of pain and suffering.
The state Supreme Court decided in May not to stop the execution on procedural
grounds despite challenges by lawyers and a rights group.
----
Original Story: The Supreme Court of Nevada will decide whether a paralytic
drug will be used to execute Scott Dozier.
The 47-year-old convicted murderer waived his appeals and says he wants the
state to carry out his execution. His execution date came and went, last
November, when a Clark County judge delayed his sentence because of questions
over the drug Cisatracurium.
David Anthony is an Assistant Federal Public Defender for Dozier. He argues
that the drug could cause a torturous death for Dozier.
"His 1st priority was his own execution and his second priority was to find out
about the facts and if he had the preference, he would prefer a humane
execution," Anthony said.
Dozier's execution would be carried out by lethal injection, first using
Diazepam. Once he does not respond to voice stimulation, Fentanyl would be
administered. The physician would check his consciousness again, using a pinch
test before Cisatracurium would be administered.
"There will not be a delivery of the 3rd paralytic drug unless and until Mr.
Dozier passes a tactile stimulus check and the attending physician tells the
drug administrators to proceed," Jordan Smith, Deputy Solicitor General said.
Anthony says there is still a risk that Dozier could start to gain
consciousness and the execution would be cruel or unusual.
"Mr. Dozier could be conscious yet suffocating because he's received a
paralytic drug," Anthony said. "A paralytic drug kills because it paralyzes the
diaphragm so you can't breathe."
Smith says every execution could have risks or mistakes but that Dozier has
very little risk of pain, panic or air hunger. He argues that the United States
and Nevada Supreme Courts both ruled that risk should not stop an execution
from moving forward.
"The Constitution does not require the avoidance of all risk of pain during an
execution," Smith said. "This court held that the risk of a bungle is no
argument against the method of execution."
Smith hinted that the implications of the Nevada Department of Corrections vs.
the 8th Judicial District reach farther than the Dozier case.
"Respectfully, the arguments that are being made here are essentially an attack
on the death penalty itself," Smith said.
Anthony says the state should move forward with a 2-drug cocktail, rather than
using the 3rd drug that raises the controversy.
"The only difference between us and them is that they're not allowed to use the
paralytic agent at the end because it's totally inappropriate to use in these
types of circumstances," Anthony said.
The state's supply of Diazepam expired May 1 and one batch of its Cisatracurium
expired April 1. Smith says that will not change much.
"It's possible that the state finds an alternative supplier, in which case it
would go forward with this cocktail if it finds an alternative supply," Smith
said.
The court could make its ruling within a couple of months, and Anthony says its
opinion probably won't change Dozier's mind.
"Regardless of how the court rules, as far as I know, Mr. Dozier's wishes are
to proceed with an execution," Anthony said.
(source: KTVN news)
CALIFORNIA:
Governor's Office seeks more information from death row inmate Kevin Cooper's
lawyer in clemency petition
The Governor's Office wants more information from defense lawyer Norm Hile in
his clemency petition for death row inmate Kevin Cooper, who was convicted more
than 3 decades ago of the brutal hatchet attack of a Chino Hills family and a
young boy staying with them.
A 6-page letter from Legal Affairs Secretary Peter A. Krause sent July 3 asked
Hile a series of questions about his requests for additional DNA testing and
theories about evidence handling in Cooper's case. The letter said the Office
of Gov. Jerry Brown had considered Hile's arguments and that attorneys in the
Governor's Office had already met with him, his investigators, and attorneys
from the state Attorney General's Office.
"Your allegations clearly deserve the serious consideration they have received
and we now request more information in order to complete our evaluation of your
requests for additional testing," according to the letter signed by Krause.
Hile has until August 17 to submit his replies. Prosecutors will then be given
a chance to respond. The information received from both parties will determine
the next steps in the case, including whether there will be additional testing,
according to the Governor's Office.
Hile was not available for comment. San Bernardino County District Attorney
Michael A. Ramos, whose office prosecuted the case, declined to comment.
The bloody June 4, 1983, attack for which Cooper was convicted and sentenced
took the lives of Doug and Peggy Ryen; their 10-year-old daughter Jessica; and
neighbor Chris Hughes, 11, who was staying overnight at the Ryens' home. The
boy was a friend of the Ryens' 8-year-old son Joshua, who suffered a slashed
throat but survived the attack.
Mary Ann Hughes, mother of Chris Hughes, said Cooper's case is totally
adjudicated. There are no more appeals, she said.
"My son deserves to have justice carried out for him, so does my family and so
does Josh Ryen," Hughes said.
(source: Orange County Register)
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