[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, OHIO

[Rick Halperin]

Aug. 27


TEXAS----impending execution

Inmate to die Tuesday for Kilgore robbery where 4 slain


DaRoyce Mosley overcame the odds of growing up in his poor black enclave
to become an honors student at Kilgore High School, won a seat on the
student council and was a starter on the basketball team.

But what he insists was his desire to win acceptance from others in that
same impoverished neighborhood in the East Texas town led him to a cell on
death row and an appointment Tuesday in the Texas death chamber.

"Peer pressure," said Mosley, 32, set for lethal injection for the
shooting death of a woman during a robbery at a Kilgore bar, ` of 4 people
he was accused of gunning down 10 years ago.

Attorneys arguing that Mosley was innocent were in the courts trying to
keep him from becoming the 22nd inmate executed this year in Texas. He
would also be the 1st of 3 set to die this week on consecutive nights in
the nation's busiest capital punishment state.

"When you grow up in that kind of neighborhood, you don't want to be a
punk," Mosley said in a recent interview, referring to the predominantly
black area of Kilgore known as Goat Hill and the sissy reputation he was
trying to avoid. "And just to show I'm not, I go along with the robbery."

Mosley contended he was involved only in the robbery, not the killings. He
said he wrongly confessed to police that he and an uncle with a criminal
record, Ray Don Mosley, burst through the door of Katie's Lounge just
before midnight on July 21, 1994, demanded cash from a tackle box that
contained the night's receipts, then shot 5 people, 4 of them fatally.

"After the first shot, I ran," he said from the visiting area outside
death row. "I turned around and ran out."

That shot, he said, came from his uncle.

Questioned by police, the 19-year-old told a similar story, then wilted
and eventually acknowledged he was the shooter as detectives "kept at it,
kept at it, kept at it," he said.

"It was stupid, just silly," Mosley said. "It's easy to look back now and
realize the mistakes I made. That was mainly my downfall. You had that
statement."

4 bar patrons were killed: Patricia Colter, 54; her husband, Duane, 44;
Alvin Waller, 54; and Luva Congleton, 68. Bartender Sandra Cash, then 32,
was shot in the spine but was able to make a 911 call to summon police.
Cash survived but was left paralyzed. Ballistics tests showed the 4 people
killed were shot with the same weapon and Cash with a different gun.

Ray Don Mosley, now 44, took 3 life terms and testified against his
nephew. Evidence showed they split $308 taken from the bar among
themselves, a 16-year-old friend of DaRoyce Mosley's who accompanied them
that night, and a wheelchair-bound friend who was related to the juvenile.
The juvenile who authorities determined left before the gunfire was given
a 2-year jail sentence. DaRoyce Mosley got the death penalty for Patricia
Colter's death.

"We'll never know why he did it," Virginia Hutsell, Colter's sister, told
the Longview News-Journal. "But we'll know he'll never be able to do it
again."

She and another sister planned to be among the people to watch Mosley die.

"What's so sad and unusual about this case is that DaRoyce came from a
really awful background," recalled Cynthia Orr, one of his trial lawyers.
"His uncle had spent most of his life in jail. They lived in dirt floor
shacks. DeRoyce started working at 8 to take care of his brothers and
sisters, yet he managed to do extremely well in high school and got
himself into college.

"But his uncle was a horrible influence in his life."

Orr said the trial was held amid threats and rumors about Ku Klux Klan
violence. Mosley is black. All the victims were white.

"It was a very highly charged environment, not a comfortable trial," she
said. "All the people who died were wonderful and it was a horrible shame.
The reaction in the community, it became a thing itself."

Gary Bledsoe, who also defended Mosley, said the confession was bogus.

"The confession he gave was shown to be absolutely untrue," he said.
"DaRoyce didn't know what happened. His uncle is the one who committed the
murders."

Clement Dunn, one of the prosecutors in the case, said the right person
was convicted.

"In this case, I think we can all be very confident in the work law
enforcement did, and I feel good about being able to say that," said Dunn,
who also downplayed any racial tensions.

"I think there's been too much successful interaction between and among
all ethnic groups in this community for us to say that this case, or
anything else, has really created a huge division," he said. "I just don't
think that happened."

On Wednesday, John Joe Amador, 32, was set to die for the 1994 shooting
death of a San Antonio taxi driver. Then on Thursday, Kenneth Foster, 30,
faced lethal injection for his role as the getaway driver when a San
Antonio man was gunned down on his driveway in 1996.

On the Net: Texas Department of Criminal Justice execution schedule
http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/scheduledexecutions.htm

DaRoyce Mosley http://www.daroycemosley.com/

(source: Associated Press)

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

Protest for inmate held at Perry's church


Supporters of Kenneth Foster Jr. clustered Sunday in front of the church
that Gov. Rick Perry attends to protest Foster's lethal injection,
scheduled Thursday.

The gathering upset some congregants at Tarrytown United Methodist Church,
who considered it an invasion of sacred ground. Activists, however, saw it
differently.

Perry wasn't at the church Sunday.

A jury sentenced Foster to death for the 1996 killing of Michael LaHood
Jr., although he did not fire the gun that killed the victim.

Earlier that night, Foster, 30, had picked up 3 friends and taken part in
4 armed robberies around San Antonio. He was behind the wheel when 1 of
those friends, Mauriceo Brown, shot LaHood.

Appeals have failed to overturn Foster's death sentence. Brown was
executed last year.

(source: San Antonio Express-News)

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

Big donations hurt perception of courts


2 decades ago, the Texas Supreme Court was Exhibit A in the case for
judicial reform. Trial lawyers who made huge donations to Democratic
justices had an unusual propensity for receiving favorable rulings. "60
Minutes" showcased the sorry state of the court in a feature called
"Justice for Sale."

The State Commission on Judicial Conduct sanctioned two justices for
ethical transgressions. Voters were appalled at the scandal. In 1988, 2
Republicans won election to the formerly all-Democratic court on what was
known as the "Clean Slate." One of them was Nathan Hecht.

Now Republicans occupy all nine seats on the Texas Supreme Court. Hecht is
the senior justice. And he is embroiled in exactly the kind of scandal
surrounding questionable ethical practices that he railed against as a
reformer.

Hecht came under the scrutiny of the Commission on Judicial Conduct for
championing the nomination of Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Hecht prevailed in that case and created a defense fund to help pay his
legal bill. Attorneys - many of whom have business before the court -
donated $447,000 to Hecht's cause.

All those checks from all those potential litigants are merely unseemly.
But Travis County prosecutors and the Texas Ethics Commission are
investigating the legality of one contribution - an estimated $100,000
discount from the Jackson Walker law firm for legal services rendered in
Hecht's defense.

That's far in excess of the statutory limit on donations of $30,000 from a
single law firm in an election cycle.

Impartiality will always be in question whenever money and justice cross
paths. Hecht used to recognize how the perception of bias contributed to
the public's jaundiced view of the Texas high court. Now he is Exhibit A
in the case for judicial reform.

(source: Editorial, San Antonio Express-News)






OHIO:

US retrial for Scot on death row ---- Kenny Richey should now be retried
within 90 days


A Scottish man who has spent more than 20 years on death row in the US is
to face a retrial after his conviction was overturned for a 2nd time.

Kenny Richey was sentenced to death in 1987 after he was convicted of
starting a fire which killed a 2-year old girl in Ohio.

The 43-year-old has always protested his innocence.

Prosecutors are not appealing against the overturning of the sentence.
Richey will now face a retrial within 90 days.

Until then it is expected he will be transferred to an ordinary county
jail and could apply for bail until the trial begins.

"I hope that when they weigh all the factors they will conclude that it is
time to walk away and let Kenny start living the rest of his life right
now"----Ken Parsigian, Richey's lawyer Kenny Richey: Serving time

The legal team representing the former US Marine, originally from
Edinburgh, said they welcomed the news and that they had been preparing
for a retrial for 2 decades.

The Sixth Circuit Federal Court of Appeal in Cincinnati overturned
Richey's death sentence for a second time on 10 August.

State prosecutors could have gone to the US Supreme Court to try to have
that decision overturned, but instead decided to stage a new trial.

Reprieve, which fights for prisoners on death row, welcomed the move.

Legal director Clive Stafford Smith, who has assisted Richey's case for
almost 2 decades, said: "This is great news, though it has been a long
time coming for Kenny.

Fatal blaze

"Once the prosecution sit down and start to prepare their case for trial,
they will realise that they don't have one.

"The only decent thing to do here is drop the charges and send Kenny home
to Scotland."

Richey was 18 when he left his mother's home in Edinburgh to live with his
American father in Ohio, where he joined the US Marines.

In July 1986 he was arrested for the murder of Cynthia, who died in a fire
at her mother's apartment.

The prosecution claimed he started the blaze because his estranged former
girlfriend and her new lover - supposedly the intended targets - lived in
the flat beneath.

2-year-old Cynthia Collins died in the fire

But Richey's lawyer Ken Parsigian told the BBC Scotland news website that
over the past 20 years their case had steadily weakened.

He said: "It is important to remember that the State offered Kenny a plea
bargain 21 years ago that would have had him out in 11 years.

"So at some level, they thought that was sufficient for their view of the
case (not ours) that a drunk guy started a fire in a cockamamie scheme to
have it burn through the floor and kill his ex girlfriend, and a little
girl was tragically killed instead.

"Even if you believe that is what happened, and we intend to prove it is
not, 21 years is ample, indeed, heavy punishment for that offence. The
facts of the State's own theory simply do not support more punishment, let
alone the death penalty.

"Thus, while I don't expect to convince the State of Kenny's innocence
even after we have convinced a jury (which we will), I would expect them
to evaluate the weakness of their case, the strength of ours, the time
Kenny has already served, the punishment in comparable cases, and the cost
to the State in retrying this case.

"I hope that when they weigh all those factors they will conclude that it
is time to walk away and let Kenny start living the rest of his life right
now."

Amnesty International Scotland director, John Watson said: "Whilst Kenny's
original trial can be held up as a model of shoddy justice, the eyes of
the world will be on this new case, which must be seen to meet the most
stringent standards."

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

Kenny Richey: Serving time


Kenny Richey has spent 18 years on death row in the US for killing a
2-year-old child in Ohio in 1986.

Richey's conviction has been overturned twice and prosecutors have been
given 90 days to release or retry him.

The 43-year-old Scot was sentenced to death in January 1987.

3 August 1964 : Kenny Richey is born in Holland to an American father and
Scottish mother. His parents move to Edinburgh when he is a baby.

December 1982: Following his parents' divorce, Richey moves to the US to
live with his father in Columbus Grove, Ohio.

1984: Richey moves to Minnesota where he meets his future wife Wendy and
joins the US Marines.

1985: Richey is discharged from the Marines. After his marriage fails he
returns to Columbus Grove to live with his father.

30 June, 1986: 1 week before Richey is due to return to Scotland,
2-year-old Cynthia Collins dies in a house fire.

January 1987: Richey is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. An
immediate appeal is lodged.

30 June, 1987: Richey's 1st scheduled appointment with the electric chair
coincides with the 1st anniversary of the child's death. A stay is
granted.

1992: A direct appeal is lodged with Ohio Supreme Court and denied by 4
votes to 3.

1994: Richey comes within an hour of death before a stay is granted.

March 1997: An appeal is lodged with the same judge who sentenced Richey
to death. It is rejected.

2 witnesses who had claimed they heard Richey threaten to burn down the
Ohio flat where Collins died, retract their statements.

1998: An appeal is denied by Ohio Supreme Court.

June 1998: Richey's last scheduled execution date is avoided when a stay
is granted and the case is transferred to the federal courts.

March 2004: About 150 MPs sign a Commons motion backing Richey's claim of
innocence after Prime Minister Tony Blair pledges to look into the case.

25 January, 2005: The 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals overturns Richey's
conviction and sentence based on incompetent legal counsel.

8 February, 2005: Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro files a state motion to
rehear Richey's case and asks for an extra 14 days to prepare its
challenge.

22 February, 2005: Prosecutors file their request for an entire 12-judge
appeal court to reconsider its decision.

18 April, 2005: The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals denies the state's
request to rehear the appeal.

21 April, 2005: Mr Petro files a stay seeking to quash the decision to
overturn Richey's conviction.

13 May, 2005: The appeal court rules that the decision to quash his
conviction cannot be set aside. Richey must be retried within 90 days of
25 May or be set free. Prosecutors have until 14 July to lodge an appeal
with the Supreme Court.

25 May, 2005: The 90-day countdown begins.

2 June, 2005: PR guru Max Clifford is hired to represent Richey if and
when he is released.

22 June, 2005: Prosecutors meet to discuss whether they will retry the
case.

30 June, 2005: Putnam County prosecutor Gary Lammers announces that Richey
will be retried, telling reporters: "The evidence supports that Mr Richey
set the fire that callously ended this little girl's life."

November 2005 The US Supreme Court held that the decision to overturn his
conviction may not have been procedurally correct and so asked the Court
of Appeals of the Sixth Circuit to reconsider.

10 August 2007 Richey's conviction is overturned by the Sixth Circuit. The
court ordered that Richey should be retried or released within 90 days.

(source for both: BBC News)