[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----WYO., IND.

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 4


WYOMING:

UW Examines Death Penalty in Reading, Panel Discussion


The University of Wyoming Department of Theatre and Dance, in
collaboration with St. Paul's Newman Center, will host two events to
accompany the department's "Dead Man Walking" production.

The UW College of Law will present a staged reading of "The Exonerated," a
hard-hitting docudrama about 6 wrongfully-convicted survivors of death row
and their ensuing struggle for freedom and redemption, Monday, Oct. 9, at
7:30 p.m. on the Fine Arts Center main stage. Proceeds from tickets, which
cost $10, go to the Public Interest Law Fund.

Additionally, a panel discussion on the death penalty will be held
Tuesday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. in Room 142 of the College of Law building.
Kerry Max Cook, one of the exonerated depicted in "Dead Man Walking," will
participate in the discussion. As a result of "gross police and
prosecutorial misconduct," Cook served 22 years on Texas' notorious death
row for a murder he did not commit. In 1999, DNA testing confirmed Cook
was innocent.

The Department of Theatre and Dance's production, "Dead Man Walking,"
continues through Saturday, Oct. 7, at 7:30 p.m. on the Fine Arts Center
main stage. A matinee performance will be offered Sunday, Oct. 8, at 2
p.m. Tickets cost $14 for adults, $11 for senior citizens, and $7 for
students. For tickets call the ticket office (307) 766-6666, stop by the
Fine Arts Center box office (10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays) or go online at
www.uwyo.edu/finearts.

The production is adapted from Tim Robbins' Academy Award-winning film of
the same name based on Sister Helen Prejean's Pulitzer Prize-nominated
memoir of her experiences with death row inmates.

Rebecca Hilliker, UW Department of Theatre and Dance head and professor,
says "We hope this production, the reading of 'The Exonerated' and the
panel discussion will encourage meaningful discourse on this controversial
issue."

The discussion is part of the Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project to
stimulate dialogue on capital punishment.

(source: University of Wyoming News)






INDIANA:

Former death row inmate Thomas Schiro fires his attorney in rape cases,
sentencing delayed


Thomas Schiro's sentencing has been postponed after he fired his attorney
this morning.

Schiro, 45, was convicted last month by a Clark County jury of rape and
criminal deviate conduct in a crime that happened 25 years ago.

The case was moved to Clark County due to pretrial publicity. Schiro was
on trial for raping two women in the same home in separate attacks in
1980, but the jury convicted him only of the second rape and acquitted him
of the first one.

Schiro was not originally charged in the rapes because in 1981 he was
convicted in the murder of Evansville resident Laura Luebbehusen and
sentenced to death.

That penalty was reduced on appeal to straight prison time, and with that
term scheduled to end in February, Proseuctor Stan Levco reopened the rape
cases.

Schiro was originally scheduled to be sentenced for them on October 11,
but in Vanderburgh County Circuit Court this morning, Judge Carl Heldt
granted Schiro's motion to fire his defense attorney, Robert Canada.

In July of 2005, Schiro hired Canada as his private lawyer to replace his
original public defender, John Brinson.

Today, Canada said at the request of his client, he would withdraw his
appearance.

Even after he was granted a public defender, Schiro told Heldt that will
not solve his problem.

He alleged there is a conspiracy between the public defender's office and
the prosecutor's office, but did not offer details about the alleged
conspiracy.

When asked after the court proceeding what that conspiracy might be, Levco
replied "You need to ask him."

Heldt told Schiro in court that he sees no evidence of a conspiracy.

Levco said he does not think firing Canada will make a difference for
Schiro at this point in the case.

"I was a little surprised he filed these motions last week," Levco said of
several motions Schiro filed without the consent of his attorney.

Heldt explained to Schiro those motions will be stricken from his file
because they were filed improperly.

When sentenced, Schiro faces a maximum total of 100 years.

A progress date was scheduled for October 11 in place of the sentencing.

(source: Courier Press)