[Deathpenalty]death penalty news --- IOWA, N.C., CALIF.

[Joerg Sommer]

death penalty news

July 24, 2004


IOWA --- federal death penalty trial

Judge: Limit mentioning death penalty during trial

When Dustin Honken's capital murder trial starts next month, his attorneys 
must avoid making the death penalty a focus of their courtroom strategy, a 
federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett ruled this week on a variety of issues 
attorneys sought to explore at trial, including statements made by two of 
Honken's alleged murder victims and his attempts to flee prison.

Honken, 35, goes on trial Aug. 16 in Sioux City on charges he killed three 
adults and two children in 1993, and then buried the bodies in fields 
outside Mason City.

Iowa does not have capital punishment on its law books and has not put a 
prisoner to death in more than 40 years. But because the trial is in 
federal court and two of the victims were cooperating with agents who were 
investigating Honken's multistate methamphetamine operation, prosecutors 
are seeking the death penalty.

Although most of the major questions over facts and evidence have been 
settled, Bennett's latest decisions focus on the nuances of legal strategy 
or the details the jury will be allowed to learn about the past behavior of 
Honken and witnesses.

For example, in a hearing last month, assistant U.S. Attorney C.J. Williams 
asked Bennett to restrain Honken's legal team from repeatedly mentioning or 
presenting anti-death penalty testimony during the guilt phase of the trial.

Williams argued that would confuse or mislead the jury at a time when it 
should be focused solely on the question of innocence or guilt.

Honken's attorneys sought permission to mention the death penalty only at 
key moments, such as questioning a witness eligible for a reduced sentence 
for cooperating in such a high stakes case.

Bennett agreed with Williams, but said defense lawyers could raise the 
death penalty in limited circumstances.

Meanwhile, Bennett sided with prosecutors who want to use statements made 
by two of the victims, Terry DeGeus and Greg Nicholson.

Both men were involved in Honken's drug ring, but had agreed to work with 
agents investigating Honken's operation.

Their disappearance forced federal officials to drop charges against Honken 
in 1995, but he was convicted two years later and is serving a 27-year 
sentence in federal prison in Marian, Ill. Honken was transferred to the 
Polk County jail earlier this month so he can help attorneys prepare for trial.

Nicholson disappeared in July 1993 along with his new girlfriend, Lori 
Duncan, and her two children, Kandi, 10, and Amber, 6. Prosecutors say they 
were beaten, tortured and shot at close range with a gun bought by Honken's 
former lover, Angela Johnson.

Williams sought permission to use statements Nicholson made to agents and a 
grand jury about his involvement in Honken's drug business.

DeGeus, 32, disappeared four months later, also the victim of an 
execution-style slaying.

Williams wanted to use statements DeGeus made the day he disappeared, 
including telling his mother and a friend of his plans to meet Johnson.

Bennett also ruled in the government's favor by allowing prosecutors to 
explore Honken's attempts to escape a county jail in 1997 with the goal of 
killing witnesses.

The defense said the escape attempt is irrelevant to the first-degree 
murder charges. But Bennett said it is intertwined with other charges 
contained in the original indictment, including witness tampering.

"Evidence suggests that Honken pursued an escape attempt precisely for the 
purpose of murdering or intimidating witnesses and to continue his drug 
trafficking activities," Bennett wrote.

(source: AP)


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Death Penalty Case

It's been more than 40 years since a criminal was executed in Iowa. But 
tonight two people face a possible death penalty for a mass murder that 
happened 11 years ago, this Sunday. The case is set to start August 16th in 
federal court in Sioux City.

When he laid his daughter and two granddaughters to rest in Mason City this 
month, David Milbrath closed a sad chapter in his family's life. "There was 
a long period of time that we waited, you know, knowing that something had 
happened and not knowing where the girls were at for sure. Uh, they were, 
you know, lost", says David Milbrath. The remains of Lori Duncan and her 
two young daughters, Kandi and Amber were found, buried in a field, next to 
the remains of two men. They were tortured and executed.

The Duncan's have been called the victims of circumstance, after Lori 
allowed one of those men to move-in with them after he ratted-out Dustin 
Honken, a convicted drug kingpin, to the authorities. After a prison tip 
led police to the Duncans' remains, it took four years to give them a 
proper burial. Four years the U.S. Attorney's office held on to the remains 
to build a murder case against Honken, and against his former girlfriend, 
Angela Johnson. She also faces the death penalty for her alleged 
involvement in the killings.

It all ads up to what observers are touting as likely the longest and most 
expensive trial in Iowa history. Judge Mark Bennett will preside over the 
Honken trial, set to begin August 16th in Sioux City. It's expected to last 
more than three months. The Angela Johnson will have her day in court, as 
soon as Honken's trial wraps up.

The last federal execution in Iowa was back in 1963. Victor Harry Feguer 
died by hanging at the Fort Madison prison. Feguer was convicted of 
kidnapping and killing a Dubuque doctor. Two years after Feguer's death, 
the state of Iowa abolished the death penalty.

(source: whotv.com)


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NORTH CAROLINA:

Man could get death penalty in nurse's slaying

A Nov. 1 trial date was set Friday for one of two suspects accused in the 
slaying of nurse Tia Monae Carroway, who was kidnapped and fatally shot 
after she left her job at Durham Regional Hospital for lunch in July 2002.

The suspect, 21-year-old Anthony Patterson Jr., pleaded not guilty Friday 
to a charge of first-degree murder. He also entered not guilty pleas on 
charges of first-degree kidnapping, armed robbery and felonious possession 
of Carroway's stolen car.

District Attorney Jim Hardin Jr. then announced officially that the death 
penalty would be sought against Patterson.

According to Hardin, capital punishment is an option because at least one 
so-called "aggravating factor" exists in the case. He declined to specify 
what that is.

The only possible penalties for first-degree murder are death or life in 
prison without parole.

Patterson rejected a proffered deal Friday that would have eliminated the 
threat of execution, sources close to the case said. Under the deal, 
Patterson could have pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and received a 
life prison term, sparing court officials the time and expense of a lengthy 
jury trial.

Because he turned the deal down, he stands a chance of becoming the first 
person to receive the death penalty in Durham since the 1997 conviction of 
Todd Charles Boggess.

Boggess was sentenced to die for fatally beating Wilmington honor student 
Danny Pence in the woods of northern Durham County, off Terry Road. An 
appeal is still pending.

Besides Boggess, only two people are on death row as a result of Durham 
homicides. They are Isaac Jackson Stroud, who is facing execution for the 
1993 slaying of Durham High School teacher Jocelyn Michelle Mitchell, and 
Donald John Scanlon, convicted in the 1996 asphyxiation death of retired 
schoolteacher Claudine Wilson Harris.

To vote for the death penalty, jurors must be convinced that at least one 
aggravating factor exists in a case. They also must be persuaded that the 
aggravating factor outweighs any offsetting factors in mitigation, and that 
it is "sufficiently substantial" to merit capital punishment.

Carroway, 23, failed to return to her nursing job at Durham Regional after 
she left for lunch on July 4, 2002.

The next day, police found her car on Roosevelt Street. Her body was 
discovered in some woods near Hope Valley Farms in southern Durham. She 
reportedly was shot in the back of the head.

Police said Carroway, the mother of a 2-year-old boy, apparently crossed 
paths with Patterson and another man at a fast-food chicken restaurant. She 
then was taken to Alben Street and shot, reports indicated.

The apparent motive in the homicide was to steal Carroway's 1994 Honda 
Accord, police said.

According to reports, Patterson allegedly was caught with the car and the 
suspected murder weapon.

A second suspect, 21-year-old Naeem Rasheed Mahmoud, also is charged with 
murder in the case.

A possible Dec. 1 trial date was set Friday for Mahmoud. However, court 
officials said the proceedings would have to be postponed if Patterson's 
trial wasn't finished by then.

(source: The Herald-Sun)


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CALIFORNIA:

Convicted Killer of Five Pleads for Death

A man convicted of murdering the daughter of blues guitarist Elvin Bishop 
and four other people in an extortion plot blurted out in court that the 
jury need not deliberate his fate because he wants to die.

As opening statements were about to begin in the death penalty phase of his 
trial Wednesday, Justin Helzer, 32, told the court that "I want this life 
to be over. ... I want to die."

Helzer's lawyers attempted to calm their client, who had shown almost no 
reaction during weeks of incriminating and sometimes graphic testimony.

Judge Mary Ann O'Malley told Helzer to be quiet and continued speaking over 
him when he didn't immediately comply.

"I'm just being truthful. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be rude," Helzer 
said. "I just want to be free. I want freedom or death."

Helzer's mother, Carma Helzer, burst into tears. Some jurors also wept 
before the panel was hurried out of the courtroom.

When the jury was reseated about 20 minutes later, O'Malley told jurors to 
disregard Helzer's words.

Helzer, his older brother, Glenn, and their former roommate, Dawn Godman, 
killed five people, including Bishop's 22-year-old daughter during the 
summer of 2000 as part of a scheme they devised to prepare for Christ's 
return to Earth.

Before the same jury convicted him on five counts of capital murder last 
month, Justin Helzer had pleaded guilty by reason of insanity, maintaining 
his role in the multiple slayings was dictated by an older brother whom he 
considered to be a prophet of God. Jurors rejected his insanity plea last 
week, making Helzer eligible for the death penalty.

Glenn Helzer entered a surprise guilty plea just before his joint trial 
with his brother began. He faces a death penalty hearing. Godman pleaded 
guilty and testified for the prosecution under a plea bargain in which she 
received a prison sentence of 38 years to life.

(source: AP)