Aug. 30
TEXAS:
Suspect arrested in 'execution-style' killing of Texas deputy sheriff
A Texas man faces a capital murder charge in the "execution-style shooting" of
a sheriff's deputy while he was fueling his patrol car near Houston,
authorities said.
Deputy Darren H. Goforth was in uniform when he was shot in the back Friday
night in what authorities described as an unprovoked killing.
The suspect, identified as Shannon J. Miles, has been in police custody since
Saturday.
His criminal history includes convictions of resisting arrest, trespassing and
disorderly conduct with a firearm, Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman said.
'Senseless and cowardly'
The motive in the shooting, which Hickman described as "senseless and
cowardly," is still unclear. But Goforth appears to have been targeted "because
he wore a uniform," the sheriff said.
"We found no other motive or indication that it was anything other than that,"
said Hickman, adding that he doesn't believe the suspect and Goforth knew each
other.
Hickman said "a big gun ... a handgun" was used in the shooting and ballistic
tests on a weapon recovered matched the one used to kill the deputy.
Residents join search for suspect
Residents near the scene of the shooting as well as the tracking of a vehicle
used by Miles helped lead investigators to the suspect.
"Our deputies returned to the streets ... to hold a delicate peace that was
shattered last evening," Hickman said.
Earlier Saturday, Sgt. William Kennard of the Texas Department of Public Safety
said a man "believed to be the alleged gunman" was in custody and being
questioned, though he hadn't been charged.
The sheriff said surveillance video shows people drove up to the Chevron
station while the shooting was happening. He asked them to come forward.
"This is the kind of thing that drives you right down to your soul," Hickman
said. "It strikes at the heart of who we are as peace officers. ...This was
just a cold-blooded execution."
Shot multiple times
The suspect shot Goforth, 47, while the deputy was filling up his patrol car at
the gas station, Hickman said.
"Deputy Goforth was refueling his vehicle and returning to his car from inside
the convenience store when, unprovoked, a man walked up behind him and
literally shot him to death," he said.
He was shot multiple times from behind and then fell to the ground, where the
suspect fired at him some more, said Deputy Thomas Gilliland, a spokesman for
the sheriff's office.
The 10-year veteran of the Harris County Sheriff's Office died at the scene in
"an unprovoked, execution-style killing," Hickman said.
"I have been in law enforcement (for) 45 years," the sheriff said. "I don't
recall another incident this cold-blooded and cowardly."
'Absolute madness'
Investigators say they believe Goforth was targeted because of his uniform.
The motive appears to be "absolute madness," Hickman said.
At a new conference before the arrest was announced, Hickman and Harris County
District Attorney Devon Anderson talked about the nationwide debate over the
relationship between the police officers and the public, with the sheriff
referring to what he called "dangerous national rhetoric."
Anderson said law enforcement officials need the country's support.
"There are a few bad apples in every profession," Anderson said. "That does not
mean there should be open warfare declared on law enforcement."
All #LivesMatter
Hickman warned that the tension against officers is getting out of hand.
"When the rhetoric ramps up to the point where calculated, cold-blooded
assassination of police officers happen, this rhetoric has gotten out of
control," Hickman said. "We've heard 'Black Lives Matter,' 'All lives matter.'
Well, cops' lives matter too. So why don't we just drop the qualifier, and just
say 'Lives Matter,' and take that to the bank."
After announcing the arrest, Hickman said investigators were still trying to
determine a motive.
"The general climate of the that kind of rhetoric can be influential on people
that do thing like that," he said.
The sheriff's department posted "#BlueLivesMatter. #BlackLivesMatter. All
#LivesMatter." on its Twitter page Saturday.
(source: CNN)
VIRGINIA:
Virginia relaxes restrictions on death row inmates
Virginia prison officials have relaxed the restrictive conditions under which
death row inmates live and are in talks to settle a lawsuit over those
prisoners' near constant placement in solitary confinement - a signal that
state authorities are willing to at least modify the incarceration practice
that is facing increasing criticism across the country.
State officials revealed in a recent court filing that Virginia's 8 death row
inmates are allowed weekly contact visits with family members and more
opportunity for showers and recreation - including daily sessions in which they
are allowed to mingle in person with up to 3 others slated to die.
Victor M. Glasberg, an attorney for 4 inmates in Virginia who are suing over
their placement in solitary confinement, said the contact visits with family
members, in particular, are "decidedly huge" for the inmates. But he said he is
working to understand how the other changes have been implemented and whether
the inmates are still forced to spend nearly 23 hours a day alone.
"The issue of the hours spent in solitary is a huge, outstanding issue,"
Glasberg said. "They've said they want to negotiate in good faith, and I'm
going to accept that."
The 4 death row inmates represented by Glasberg alleged in a lawsuit late last
year that being forced to spend so much time in solitary confinement
constituted cruel and unusual punishment, causing them severe mental distress
while they waited to be executed. The issue is one that is being examined
across the country; Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, for example,
mused in June that it might be time for the high court to take a look at the
use of solitary confinement.
The case in Virginia seemed to have a good chance of success on its own: U.S.
District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema this year rejected the state's bid to throw
the matter out and said she did "not understand why the commonwealth is
insisting on maintaining this level of these conditions." After the state
alerted the court to its changes to death row, Brinkema put the case on hold so
the 2 sides could work out a broader settlement.
Glasberg said he is scheduled to meet with state lawyers Thursday. Spokesmen
for the Virginia Department of Corrections and the state attorney general's
office declined to comment.
All 4 of the death row inmates in the case were convicted of heinous crimes.
(The lawsuit was initially brought by 5 inmates, but 1 dropped out.) 1 of the 4
condemned men killed a police officer, another raped and killed a woman whom he
attacked while she was sleeping, and the other 2 killed several people,
including children. Attorneys for the state previously denied that the inmates
have suffered the harm they allege.
Virginia Department of Corrections Director Harold W. Clarke said in an
affidavit submitted in the case that, as part of a review of its policies and
procedures for those slated to die, the department decided to provide more
privileges to death row inmates who follow the rules.
Clarke said in his affidavit that death row inmates would be given an hour and
a half of outdoor recreation time 5 days a week, an opportunity for "in-pod"
recreation with 3 of their peers for an hour every day and the opportunity for
daily showers. (Inmates had alleged that they were allowed just an hour of
outdoor recreation time 5 times a week and thrice-weekly showers.)
Clarke also said death row inmates could have weekly contact visits with family
members, and prison officials were working to construct facilities for them -
including a covered recreation yard with a basketball court and stationary
exercise equipment, and a multipurpose day room where they could purchase books
and movies, make calls and send e-mails, play cards, and watch TV. Both areas,
Clarke said, were expected to be finished by October.
Glasberg said while state officials seemed to have "recognized he need to move
away from their prior protocol," there was still much to resolve.
"I will hope for the best, and plan for the worst," he said.
A 5th death row inmate in Virginia, multiple killer Alfredo Prieto, is
challenging his solitary confinement on slightly different grounds and has
asked the Supreme Court to take up the matter. It remains unclear how the
changes to death row will affect his case. State lawyers are expected to
respond to his filing with the high court next month. He is scheduled to be
executed Oct. 1.
(source: Washington Post)
MISSOURI----impending execution
Court denies motions from man set to be executed Tuesday
The Missouri Supreme Court has denied the latest legal challenges from a man
scheduled to be executed Tuesday for raping and killing a 15-year-old Kansas
City girl in 1989.
The judges ruled Friday to overrule a motion that sought a stay of execution
for Roderick Nunley. The court also rejected his request for a writ of habeas
corpus, which allows prisoners to challenge their convictions on constitutional
grounds.
Nunley was 1 of 2 men who pleaded guilty and received the death penalty in the
death of Ann Harrison. She was waiting for a school bus in front of her home
when she was abducted. Michael Taylor was executed for the same crime in 2014.
(source: Associated Press)
KANSAS:
Take another look at death penalty
The Kansas Federation of College Republicans, representing every major
university in the state and many other postsecondary institutions, unanimously
voted as an organization recently to oppose the death penalty in Kansas and
call for its repeal. Some were shocked at what was labeled as a "liberal" shift
in policy by the federation, but as the group's chairman, I would argue we are
more consistently conservative than ever before.
The death penalty is contrary to conservative values on 3 different aspects: It
entrusts a fallible government with an unnecessary and dangerous power, it
imposes a fiscal burden on taxpayers, and - most importantly - goes against a
culture of life by risking innocent life.
The Republican Party has always championed the right to life. We find this
fundamental belief at America's founding in the Declaration of Independence:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." The most important of
these is the right to life.
Sadly, history has shown that too often government errs with the death penalty
and threatens innocent life. Since 1973, 155 individuals in the U.S. sentenced
to the death penalty have been exonerated. A study from 2014 in the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences estimated that 4.1 % of those sentenced to
death in the U.S. are in fact innocent.
We simply cannot support a policy that would endanger even 1 innocent life.
In no way are we arguing against punishment for those convicted of heinous
crimes. We support the full weight of the American justice system to arrest,
convict and imprison dangerous individuals, and keep them removed from society
for life. It is important to punish evil actions and protect society from
dangerous individuals. We can do so, however, without taking life.
I urge all Kansans to take another look at this issue. Let us respect one
another and start a productive dialogue. This is a policy that liberals,
independents and conservatives can join together and show that not every issue
has to be divisive.
Hopefully, we can once again find common ground in this country and move
forward together.
The momentum is building. We urge the Republican Party of Kansas, the Kansas
Legislature and Gov. Sam Brownback to take another look at this issue and
contribute to building a culture of life, from conception to natural death - no
exceptions.
We are the College Republicans, and we are a Grand Ole Party for a new
generation.
(source: Opinion; Dalton Glasscock, a student at Wichita State University, is
chairman of the Kansas Federation of College Republicans----kansas.com)
OKLAHOMA:
The Supreme Court Has Had Enough Of The Lethal Injection Debate For Now----The
justices declined to rehear a controversial June case that upheld Oklahoma's
lethal-injection protocol.
The Supreme Court won't be reconsidering an explosive ruling it issued in June
that upheld the legality of the lethal injection in Oklahoma.
In a 1-line order on Friday, the court denied rehearing Glossip v. Gross, a
fractious decision that commanded 5 separate opinions, 4 of which the justices
read aloud from the bench on the very last day of the last Supreme Court term.
On paper, the entirety of Glossip ran for 127 pages -- far longer than the
decisions on Obamacare and same-sex marriage. Slate writer Dahlia Lithwick, who
was in the courtroom when the decision was announced, described the scene as
"really weird" -- the tension among the justices was palpable.
The case was controversial because it upheld Oklahoma's use of midazolam, a
sedative the petitioning death-row inmates claimed was ineffective in
preventing pain. The potential for pain, the inmates argued, violated the
Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Writing for the
conservative majority, Justice Samuel Alito disagreed and upheld the state's
lethal-injection protocol.
But more than the majority's reasoning, what truly made headlines was Justice
Stephen Breyer's dissenting opinion, which looked at Glossip's broader picture.
Joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, he argued that it was "highly likely
that the death penalty" is unconstitutional, all but inviting a future legal
challenge to the franchise.
\ But the Supreme Court seldom rehears cases it's already decided. If getting a
case accepted by the justices is already hard, getting an already-decided case
reheard is nearly impossible and the court has broad discretion in deciding
whether it will do so.
Opponents of the death penalty harbored some hope the court might be willing to
give the case a second look -- especially after they read Breyer's description
of the failures of capital punishment. Breyer's invitation represented
"something new," Dale Baich, a federal public defender representing the Glossip
inmates, told Legal Times -- a window for him and other lawyers to attempt to
get the case before the Supreme Court again.
That effort was shot down by the Supreme Court with Friday's order.
But the dissent in Glossip lives on: the Connecticut Supreme Court cited the
case at length when it ruled earlier this month that the state's imposition of
the death penalty is unconstitutional.
(source: Cristian Farias, Legal Affairs Writer, The Huffington Post)
***************
Susan Sarandon Sobs Over Death Row Inmate: 'I'm Heartbroken for This Man'
Actress Susan Sarandon broke down in tears on Dr. Phil as she asked for help
saving the life of a death row inmate.
The actress, who opposes the death penalty, is going on a crusade to save the
life of Oklahoma inmate named Richard Glossip, who was convicted of ordering a
hit on his boss.
He is scheduled to be executed next month.
She told Dr. Phil: "I'm heartbroken for this man."
Another man, Justin Sneed confessed to the murder. Sarandon told Dr. Phil she
believes there's no forensic evidence linking Glossip to the murder.
Dr. Phil told INSIDE EDITION: "The facts of the case are this: a man was
bludgeoned to death. There is no doubt that Richard Glossip did not do that.
Another man admitted to doing it and says Richard Glossip hired him to do it."
Dr. Phil asked Sarandon on his show: "How will you feel in the morning if he is
put to death?"
"I will feel ashamed and sad for us all," she said.
(source: insideedition.com)
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