[Deathpenalty]death penalty news----KAN., PENN. CONN.

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 19


KANSAS:

Death Sentence Dropped -- A convicted Kansas killer gets his death
sentence dropped, changed to life in prison.


2 weeks ago, the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office agreed to drop
Stanley Elms' death sentence in exchange for life in prison, and a promise
to drop an appeal.

Friday in court, Stanley Elms confessed to the rape and murder of Regina
Gray in 1998. It's part of a deal with the Sedgwick County District
Attorney's office; Elms confesses, his death sentence is exchanged for
life in prison, and he agrees not to appeal his conviction accusing
prosecutors of multiple counts of misconduct during his trial.

The process was hard to stomach for Gray's father, revisiting the day when
his daughter was murdered. But Ben Gray says it had to be done.

Elms won't get the death penalty, but he will spend the rest of his life
behind bars.

This deal was offered by Stanley Elms himself. The D.A. took him up on his
offer to ensure closure for the victim's family.

Part of the deal required Elms to confess to the rape and murder; a
request that Elms attorney's objected to on Wednesday.

Friday, Elms did confess, but he didn't go into detail; instead answering
"yes" to a series of questions. The D.A. says that's all they wanted.

Elms received the hard 40 forty years in prison with no parole. He becomes
the 1st person to have his death sentence changed to a life sentence since
the death penalty was reinstated in Kansas 10 years ago.

(source: KAKE News)






PENNSYLVANIA----impending execution Convicted mass murderer asks for stay
of execution


In Philadelphia, attorneys for a man scheduled to be put to death on Dec.
2 for killing 6 adults and seven children during a 1982 shooting rampage
in Wilkes-Barre have asked the state Supreme Court to stay his execution.

Lawyers for George Banks on Friday launched the latest in a long series of
appeals, saying he was "severely mentally ill and legally incompetent."
They asked for his execution to be put off while the merits of the appeal
are considered, and to give him time to ask the state for clemency.

If they fail, Banks, 62, would become the 4th person put to death in
Pennsylvania since the commonwealth reinstated the death penalty in 1978.
All 3 executed inmates ended their appeals voluntarily.

His case has been before the state Supreme Court three times. A federal
appeals court twice overturned Banks' death sentence because of a
potentially confusing jury instruction, but both times the decision was
reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

(source: Associated Press)






CONNECTICUT:

Governor could postpone Ross execution


Gov. M. Jodi Rell has no power under state law to commute the death
sentence of serial killer Michael Ross.

But under a little-known section of the state Constitution - Article 4,
Section 13 - the Republican governor could grant a reprieve that would
postpone Ross' planned Jan. 26 execution until after this year's
legislative session - giving lawmakers a chance to eliminate capital
punishment and stop what would be the state's 1st execution since 1960.

Ross, 45, is on death row for killing four young women in eastern
Connecticut in the 1980s. He has admitted killing eight women in
Connecticut and New York.

A state judge set the Jan. 26 execution date after Ross said in court that
he does not want to pursue any more appeals.

Dennis Schain, Rell's spokesman, would not say whether the governor plans
to use her power of reprieve.

"That would really depend on whether the legislature has a serious effort
to change the death-penalty law, and to date, there has been no discussion
of this," he said.

State Rep. Michael Lawlor, co-chairman of the legislature's Judiciary
Committee and a death penalty opponent, said he sees a growing sentiment
to eliminate the death sentence, and would support a reprieve to allow a
debate before Ross dies.

"If Michael Ross is executed in January, it will be because it is his
choice," Lawlor, D-East Haven, said. "That would be, as much as anything
else, an assisted suicide. "What kind of message are we sending there,
'you hold all the cards?"'

The state Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence, but Ross also could
stop the execution by pursuing a U.S. Supreme Court review, a pardon or a
petition of habeas corpus.

His lawyer, T.R. Paulding said Ross has no plans to do that.

In anticipation of his execution, Ross was transferred last month from the
maximum security Northern Correctional Institution to the adjacent Osborn
prison and an isolated cell near the death chamber.

"I think that has had a negative effect on his anxiety level," Paulding
said. "But he remains firm in his decision."

****************************

Media witnesses selected for Ross execution


2 newspapers, 2 television stations and a state radio network were chosen
Friday to provide media witnesses for Connecticut's 1st execution in more
than 40 years.

WTIC-TV, a Fox affiliate; WVIT-TV, an NBC affiliate; the Norwich Bulletin,
The Day of New London and the Connecticut Radio Network, were nominated by
a committee comprised of members of the media to view the execution of
serial killer Michael Ross.

The committee, meeting as required by state statute, selected the five
outlets from 22 newspapers, radio stations, broadcast networks and wire
services that applied for a position at the execution. The number of media
witnesses was limited to 5 by order of the state Department of Correction.

The committee was obligated to consider applications using three criteria:
news outlets regularly reporting general state news, organizations nearest
to where the crimes occurred and news organizations that regularly cover
the Osborn Correctional Institution in Somers, Conn., where the execution
is scheduled for Jan. 26, 2005.

The committee used a lottery system that ensured there would be witnesses
from television, radio and newspaper outlets, members said.

"It was a lengthy process intended to fulfill our responsibility to the
state and to the public and to be fair to the media outlets that applied,"
said committee member Jonathan Kellogg, the executive editor of the
Waterbury Republican-American.

The nominated outlets will submit the name of a reporter to the Correction
Department by Dec. 1 for background checks.

The committee included Kellogg, Paul Lewis, news director of WTIC-TV; Lyn
Tolan, news director of WFSB-TV; Jim Smith, executive editor of the
Record-Journal, Meriden; and Elaine Hooker, retired Hartford bureau chief
for The Associated Press. Brian Garnett, director of external affairs for
the Department of Correction, served as an ex-officio member.

Ross, 45, is on death row for killing four young women in eastern
Connecticut in the 1980s. He has admitted killing eight women in
Connecticut and New York.

A state judge set the Jan. 26 execution date after Ross said in court that
he does not want to pursue any more appeals. The state Supreme Court has
upheld six death sentences against him, but Ross could still pursue a U.S.
Supreme Court review, a pardon or a petition of habeas corpus.

(source: Associated Press)