[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, MISS., USA, COLO., OHIO

[Rick Halperin]

March 28



TEXAS----impending execution

Houston man set to be executed for refinery worker's death


The state is scheduled to put Kevin Kincy to death tomorrow for the March
1993 robbery and slaying of a Houston-area refinery worker.

Kincy was a pizza delivery driver and cousin of Jerome Harville's
girlfriend, Charlotte Kincy, when authorities say the Kincys plotted to
kill Harville and ransack his house near Baytown.

Prosecutors say Kevin Kincy shot Harville fatally in the head, then
Charlotte Kincy stabbed him several times. Then they took everything from
the house from a microwave to Harville's car.

An F-B-I agent spotted Harville's car about 2 weeks later with Kevin Kincy
at the wheel near Beaumont. He was arrested after leading authorities on a
high speed chase into Louisiana.

Kevin Kincy -- who contends he's innocent -- would be the 7th prisoner put
to death this year in Texas and the 3rd this month in the nation's busiest
capital punishment state.

Charlotte Kincy pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon
in a deal with prosecutors and is serving a 40-year prison term.

(source: Associated Press)

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

Mistrial declared in Swearingen case


After deliberating for 13 hours during 3 days, jurors in the capital
murder trial of Darrell Lee Swearingen were unable to reach a unanimous
verdict.

Shortly after jurors returned from lunch Monday, District Judge Sandra
Watts declared a mistrial.

Swearingen was accused of in the January 2004 deaths of Jenna Kay Patek,
19, and Eli Maldonado, 18, at Maldonado's home in the 4900 block of Curtis
Clark Drive.

Swearingen is 1 of 3 men charged with capital murder in connection with
the case. Juan Vela was found not guilty in January 2005 and Elijah Dupree
Huff had 2 mistrials last year. Huff's attorney has filed a motion of
double jeopardy, which initially was denied but is being appealed.

(source: Corpus Christi Caller-Times)






MISSISSIPPI:

Fulgham trial motions set for hearing by judge


Circuit Judge Lee Howard is scheduled to hear 37 motions today involving
the capital murder trial for Kristi Fulgham, including whether jurors from
other counties will decide the case.

Fulgham is charged with the 2003 murder of Joseph "Joey" Fulgham, who was
found shot in the head at an Oktibbeha County residence. Fulgham has been
in jail since her 2003 arrest. She also was sentenced to 12 years in
prison on Jan. 23 for an October 2004 attempted jail escape.

Tyler Edmonds, Kristi Fulgham's half-brother who was 13 when arrested in
2003, was convicted in 2004 of murdering Joey Fulgham and sentenced to
life in prison.

Kristi Fulgham could face the death penalty if convicted of capital
murder, although her attorney has asked that it not be an option.

(source: Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)






USA:

Death Penalty Forum Slightly Skews Students


College students in California will study the death penalty but only after
having their minds tainted.

The University of California at Davis will hold a "Forum on Capital
Punishment" this spring quarter, according to school's website.

The event will feature public lectures by those who advocate and oppose
the death penalty.

While this idea of an open debate and discussion on capital punishment
sounds encouraging, students will instead have their perceptions slightly
skewed before their study even begins.

According to a school press release, the class starts by students
attending an art exhibition put on by one of the event organizers --
Professor Malaquias Montoya. The professor's exhibit is titled
"Premeditated: Meditations on Capital Punishment" and contains prints,
drawings and paintings calling for the abolition of the death penalty.
According to the exhibit's description, by "using hard-hitting imagery
that only partially abstracts depictions of executions, [Professor]
Montoya confronts the viewer with his view of the brutality of such a
practice."

Moreover, "as part of the exhibition, Swedish artists Bigert and Bergstrom
will present their videotape, 'The Last Supper.'" This hour-long work
(which will be shown continuously) interviews those who prepare the final
meals of condemned inmates around the world," according to the school's
press release.

Umm...now I'm not a psychologist, but I think starting-off the class with
a graphic, emotional art exhibition would taint the minds of students at
UC Davis into believing the death penalty is not exactly a good thing.

---but, then again, I'm not an expert in psychology.

However, maybe Professor Montoya is such an expert. According to the
schools own press release, the professor believes "that art serves the
purpose of challenging people to rethink their understandings of the
world."

And what would the professor hope his art work encourages "people to
rethink"? Professor Montoya says, "What concerns me is, why do we kill and
what happens to us as a humanity, as a culture? Why is state-sanctioned
killing any different from a killing that takes place in the streets?"

Yep! I can't think of a better way to start an academic discussion on the
death penalty than by viewing some "hard hitting imagery" on the brutality
of capital punishment.

Come on, UC Davis! You're killing me!"

(source: Mr. Flickinger is the "dean" of Human Events U and founder of the
Network of Campus Conservatives. He is a native of Pittsburgh, who
graduated from Ohio University Scripps School of Journalism with
specializations in political science and economics)






COLORADO----NOTE----German citizen could face death penalty

Accused Cop Killer Is a German Citizen


The attorney of a man accused of fatally shooting a police officer says
his client met with a member of the German consulate office.

Defense attorney Bill Martinez says the office is taking an interest in
the case because Jereme Lamberth, who has also used the last name
Schweinhardt, is a German citizen.

The 30-year-old could face the death penalty if convicted in the February
22 death of Detective Jared Jensen.

Amnesty International says Germany does not have the death penalty.

Lamberth faces a charge of 1st degree murder in the detective's death, and
a charge of attempted murder for allegedly stabbing his sister on February
2nd.

District Judge Larry Schwartz yesterday refused to allow deputies to
remove shackles around Lamberth's waist and wrists while he met with
attorneys.

Schwartz ruled Lamberth poses a threat because of disturbances during past
incarcerations.

He also ruled that and the restraints don't interfere with his ability to
meet with his attorney.

(source: KKTV News)






OHIO:

Death penalty often not swift ---- 1 Ohio inmate in U.S. appeals court 10
years


Ohio's death row is where inmates go to die - some by injection, others by
natural causes. But not always. In the past 25 years, 20 inmates were
executed and 19 died in prison. However, 54 inmates originally slated for
death had their sentences vacated, reduced to life in prison or commuted
by the governor, according to the 2005 Capital Crimes report issued by
Attorney General Jim Petro. None have been released.

That means nearly 1 in five of 295 prisoners sentenced to death since Ohio
resurrected its death-penalty law in 1981 avoided the ultimate punishment.

Gov. Richard F. Celeste commuted death sentences for 8 prisoners just
before leaving office in January 1991. Gov. Bob Taft commuted Jerome
Campbell's sentence to life in prison in June 2003.

Most of the removals from death row resulted from court decisions. In 41
cases, the courts subsequently sentenced prisoners to life, while in 4
instances prisoners got new death sentences after court reconsideration.

One of those was Alva E. Campbell Jr., a Columbus man who killed Charles
Dials in 1997 after escaping custody at the Franklin County Courthouse.
Campbell's death sentence was overturned in December 2000, but reinstated
in April 2002.

The capital crimes report, required by law to be sent to state
officeholders annually by April 1, also highlighted what it calls
"notable" death-penalty cases, those that have been stalled in the courts
for at least 2 years.

One in particular stands out: An appeal by Michael Bueke, a Hamilton
County man known as "the Mad Hitchhiker," has been pending at the 6 th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for 10 years. He murdered Robert Craig, 27,
who picked up Bueke on I-275 on June 1, 1983.

A notable Franklin County case involves Mark Burke, convicted of murdering
72-year-old Billy McBride in his Columbus home on Nov. 2, 1989. Burkes
case has been awaiting a decision in federal district court for 3 years
and has been inactive since May 20, 2003, the report said.

Overall, 17 cases were stalled in the federal courts and 4 in state
courts, Petro reported. There were 11 federal and 5 state cases on the
notable list at the end of 2004.

Of the 140 cases pending in federal courts, seven are closest to
execution, including Joseph Clark, of Lucas County, who is scheduled for
lethal injection May 2 at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near
Lucasville.

The other prisoners who have exhausted their appeals at all levels,
including the U.S. Supreme Court, are Richard Cooey, of Summit County;
Jerome Henderson and Jeffrey Hill, of Hamilton County; Charles Lorraine,
of Trumbull County; Gregory Lott, of Cuyahoga County; and John G. Spirko
Jr., of Van Wert County.

None has a pending execution date except Spirko, scheduled for lethal
injection on July 19 after receiving 3 reprieves from Taft. At the urging
of Spirko's attorneys, Petro agreed to extensive DNA testing of materials
from the 1982 murder of Betty Jane Mottinger, the postmistress in Elgin in
northwestern Ohio.

There were 7 death sentences handed down in the state last year, compared
with 4 in 2004 and 13 in 2003.

One of those was Roland T. Davis, a Licking County man convicted of
robbing and fatally stabbing Elizabeth Sheeler, an 86-year-old widow from
Newark, in July 2000.

(source: The Columbus Dispatch)