[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ARIZ., TENN., ALA., N.C., GA.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 25



ARIZONA:

Death penalty case on hold----Pretrial motions for suspect in childs
murder delayed until ruling on appeal


The case of a Golden Valley man facing the death penalty if found guilty
of 1st degree murder and molestation charges is on hold for now in Mohave
County Superior Court.

Mohave County Judge Robert R. Moon on Wednesday granted the request of the
defense attorneys for Brad Lee Nelson, 36, for his case to be continued
until the appellate court decides to address the appeal for special action
by the defense.

The next step for the trial is awaiting a decision by the Court of
Appeals.

Lee M. Novak, co-defense attorney for Nelson, told the court he didn't how
long a decision might take. He speculated it could take a couple of weeks
if the appellate court denies jurisdiction or a couple of months if the
appellate court approves jurisdiction.

Moon and Novak expressed concern with continuing the case and ruling on
motions, in the event a change of judge is granted, requiring all the
motions to be ruled upon again. Moon said he felt the end result of the
appeal will be a change of judge, but added he believed the Court of
Appeals will take jurisdiction.

Novak and Rick A. Williams, who was not present, appealed for special
action because they felt Mohave County Judge James E. Chavez did not
follow Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 10.1 by not holding a hearing on
the defense's request for a change of judge, according to Novak. Chavez
gave an order on Dec. 20 rejecting the request.

Under Section C of the rule, it reads "Promptly after the filing of the
motion, the presiding judge shall provide for a hearing on the matter
before a judge other than the judge challenged." That is what the defense
is using for the appeal according to Novak.

Nelson is charged with first-degree murder and molestation of his niece,
Amber Leann Graff, 14, of Golden Valley. Graff was found dead by the
Kingman Police Department at a motel in the 3200 block of E. Andy Devine
Avenue on June 9.

The KPD found a rubber mallet believed to be the death weapon at the
scene.

An autopsy performed by Mohave County Medical Examiner Dr. Julie Jervis
determined Graff died of multiple blunt force traumas to the head.

Graff and her 13-year-old brother were in the care of Nelson while the
girl's mother was hospitalized at the Kingman Regional Medical Center.

Nelson pleaded not guilty to the charges on July 21.

He is being held in jail on a $1 million bond and faces the death penalty
if convicted.

This is the 1st time since 1999 the Mohave County Attorney's Office has
decided to seek capital punishment for a crime in the county due to the
serious aggravators of the age of the victim and manner of the murder.

A motive for the killing has yet to be established.

(source: Kingman Daily Miner)






TENNESSEE:

Killer Changes Mind On Death Penalty


One of Nashville's most notorious confessed killers cut a deal in court
Thursday. Garland Milam could have faced the death penalty, but he will
now spend the rest of his life in prison.

He confessed to a fascination with death, but decided he didn't want to
die himself.

Milam was more subdued and less menacing Thursday than the killer arrested
by Metro Police 2 years ago. Charged with two murders at a homeless camp
off Mt. View Road in Antioch, Milam wanted to die.

"Yeah, I want the death sentence. I know that I'm a monster. I got
addicted to sucking the souls out of the people that I was killing, and
I'm gonna do it again if I don't get the death penalty," he said.

Milam changed his mind and cut a deal. In court he pleaded guilty to 2
counts of 1st degree murder for killing Timothy McCoy and Johnny Davis.

"I'm pleading guilty as a way of making amends," he said.

Milam waived his right to a trial and agreed to serve 2 consecutive life
sentences. The judge quizzed Milam on the decision and asked if he was
satisfied with his attorney. His response was not a response to the
question, nor was it outside of his character.

"I've been without a woman for a long time, but she won't do that," he
said.

In cold calculating terms, Milam then told the judge he first strangled
McCoy and set the body on fire. Milan said he attacked Davis the next day
when Davis refused to buy him liquor.

"I purposely told him what I did to Tim McCoy. I told him how I killed Tim
McCoy and he said why did you tell me this' and I said well now I have to
kill you,'" he said.

The matter-of-fact description stunned many in the courtroom.

Milam will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing two people,
but many wonder if he had more victims. Not long after his arrest, Milam
told NewsChannel 5 in an exclusive interview that he had killed before.

Known as a drifter, Milam confessed to killing in Tucson, Arizona and
Topeka, Kansas.

Detectives have not yet linked him to other murders, but his name comes up
in missing person's cases.

Milam could have faced the death penalty, but the District Attorney said
the victims' families agreed with 2 consecutive life sentences.

In court, Milam told the judge he recognized that what he did was wrong
and said he was sorry for the victims' families.

(source: NewsChannel5)






ALABAMA:

Riley receives the death penalty


Jurors spent the day debating the sentence for a man convicted of killing
a liquor store clerk.

Scott Kirtley was murdered execution style 2 years ago by David Riley who
was just 20 years old at the time.

Riley is the 1st person ever sentenced to the death penalty in Lauderdale
County.

Jurors made their decision at 5:15 Thursday night.

The jury convicted Riley of capital murder yesterday, then returned today
for the penalty phase.

They heard testimony from family members of both the victim and the
defendant.

With the conviction, Riley would definitely die in prison, but it was the
jury's decision to determine if Riley would do life without parole or
receive the death penalty.

Defense attorneys pleaded for Riley's life, saying a life of drug and
alcohol abuse led to his crime.

Jurors spent just 2 1/2 hours to decide otherwise.

We spoke with the victim's brother Keith Kirtley just minutes after the
decision.

"I'm glad the jury returned with the verdict they gave, but that's really
all I can say per the order and judge's instruction."

Keith Kirtley was told to hold his comments because the ordeal isn't
exactly completely over. Even though the jury decided on the death
penalty, the decision is actually a recommendation.

It will be up to the judge to uphold the death penalty at the actual
sentencing hearing.

No date has been set.

(source: WAFF News)






NORTH CAROLINA----impending execution

A Wake County judge has suspended executions in North Carolina, putting a
halt to an execution scheduled for 2 a.m. Friday morning.

Marcus Robinson, 33, was scheduled to receive a lethal injection at
Raleigh's Central Prison.


Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens suspended his execution, 2 others
scheduled for the coming weeks until the governor and Council of State
approve an execution protocol that doesn't include a doctor participating.
The judge says the law requires such approval.

Attorneys for Marcus Reymond Robinson also want the U.S. Supreme Court to
stop his execution so the courts can review evidence that he has a
long-standing brain injury.

The lawsuit was filed in conjunction with inmate James Edward Thomas, who
is scheduled to be executed February 2nd for a slaying and sexual assault
he says he doesn't remember.

(source: The Jurist)





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

Vigils for Marcus Robinson


Vigils for the January 26 execution of Marcus Robinson will be held at
various locations around North Carolina.

Raleigh

January 22-26, 7:30 - 8:00 a.m.

Prayers for Mercy, Healing and True Justice

N. Blount St., across from the Governor's Mansion

Thursday, January 25, 12 - 1 p.m.

Interfaith vigil for Marcus Robinson

South/Morgan St. side of the State Capitol

Marcus Robinson is scheduled for execution on this night at 2:00 a.m.

Thursday, January 25th, 7:30 p.m.

Pullen Baptist Church, 1801 Hillsborough St.

Prayer service for Marcus Robinson, his mother and other loved ones, and
for Erik Tornblom's family and friends. Followed by candlelight procession
to Central Prison and candlelight, interfaith prayer vigil in front of
Central Prison from 9:00 PM until 2:30 AM.

For more information, please contact Wake County chapter leader Debbie
Biesack at (919) 552-0390 or Debbie.Biesack at mindspring.org.

Asheville

Thursday, January 25, 5 p.m.

Vigil for Clemency

Vance Monument on Pack Square

Please dress warmly, and bring candles and hand-held signs.

For more information, please contact Monika Wengler at (828) 654-9442.

Brevard/Hendersonville

Thursday, January 25, noon

Brevard Courthouse, Main and Broad Sts.

For more information, please contact Connie Nash at (828) 884-9467.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro

Thursday, January 25, 7 p.m.

Vigil for Clemency

Chapel, UNC Newman Catholic Student Center

218 Pittsboro St. (parking available behind center)

Speakers at the vigil will include Jeremy Collins, campaign coordinator
for the North Carolina Coalition for a Moratorium; and Kelly DeAngelus,
staff attorney at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. Service and
music by the Newman Catholic Student Center. (Click here for a flyer about
the vigil.)

Charlotte

Thursday, January 25, 6:15 p.m.

Vigil for Clemency

Corner of Trade and Tryon Sts.

7 p.m.

Preview of Love Lived on Death Row, a film about the Syriani children of
Charlotte

Kennedy Covington Law Offices

214 N. Tryon St.

Limited seating is available; please RSVP to the film's director, Linda
Booker, at lbooker at blast.com, by January 24 if you want a seat.

For more information, please contact Julie Fosbinder at (704) 522-7500.

Greensboro

Thursday, January 25, noon

Vigil for Clemency

Guilford Courthouse, corner of Eugene and Market

For more information, please contact Greensboro chapter leader Brian
Goldberg at (336) 288-4220 or kvell at aol.com.

Hickory

Thursday, January 25, 7 p.m.

Vigil for Clemency

St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, campus of Lenoir-Rhyne College

For more information, please contact Catawba Valley chapter leader Rebecca
Inglefield at (828) 324-8845 or ringlefield at abts.net.

Winston-Salem

Thursday, January 25, 5 p.m.

Vigil for Clemency

Winston-Salem Friends Meeting

3151 Reynolda Road

For more information, please contact Judith Dancy at (336) 725-8801.

(source: People Faith Against the Death Penalty)

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

N.C. judge may block 3 executions over doctor participation


In the latest challenge to the use of lethal injection in North Carolina,
a judge said Wednesday that he would block three executions scheduled over
the next three weeks unless state officials come up with a new protocol
that does not require physicians to participate.

Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens in Raleigh acted in response to a
case filed by 2 condemned inmates, one of whom is scheduled to be executed
Friday.

The judge ordered lawyers for the state and the inmates to return for
another hearing today.

Stephens acted a day after 30 North Carolina legislators asked Gov.
Michael F. Easley to halt executions until a study is complete on the
constitutionality of the state's method of execution.

The legislators, led by state Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, emphasized that Florida
Gov. Jeb Bush had imposed a moratorium on executions following "a botched
execution during which the condemned inmate clearly suffered a protracted,
painful death."

The letter also noted that eight states, including California, had
recently halted executions to review their lethal injection processes. All
37 states that employ lethal injection use the same three-drug cocktail.

North Carolina's capital punishment statute requires that a doctor be
present at the execution.

In April, U.S. District Judge Malcolm J. Howard blocked an execution, but
relented after prison officials agreed to use a bispectral index monitor,
which the state said could monitor the inmate's consciousness. Howard said
the execution could proceed if medical personnel were present to ensure
that the condemned person was unconscious before the lethal injection.

Some North Carolina physicians became concerned and asked the state
medical board to clarify what doctors could and could not do during an
execution. Last week, the board found that "physician participation in
capital punishment is a departure from the ethics of the medical
profession," citing North Carolina law and the American Medical Assn.'s
Code of Medical Ethics.

The board acknowledged that state law requires the presence of a physician
during executions and said doctors would not be disciplined for merely
being "present." However, the board emphasized that any physician who
engaged in a variety of activities, including prescribing or administering
medication, monitoring vital signs and rendering technical advice would be
in violation of the American Medical Assn. guidelines.

In response, attorneys for the state submitted an affidavit from Marvin
Polk, warden of the Central Prison in Raleigh where executions are carried
out, which said that a doctor only had to be present and that a registered
nurse played the key role of monitoring the inmate's consciousness. He
said the doctor "would only communicate with me" if the doctor needed to
intervene, and if that happened, the execution would be halted.

Robert Zaytoun, one of the lawyers for the condemned inmates, asserted
that the state medical board policy created a "moral and legal conundrum."
He said state law clearly did not intend for the physician to be "a potted
plant."

Judge Stephens apparently agreed. Standing by at an execution creates "an
awkward position for a medical professional," he said.

Unless the governor and a council of state officials have found that
participation by a licensed physician is not required, "this court cannot
approve an execution," Stephens said.

(source: Los Angeles Times)



GEORGIA:

Bringing Brian Nichols to trial. Had the death penalty been taken off the
table, Brian Nichols would be in a maximum security state prison by now
serving the rest of his natural born life where he belongs. All the court
proceedings to date in his murder trial for the killings at the Fulton
County Courthouse 2 years ago have been aimed at one thing only  keeping
him from getting a state-sanctioned lethal injection.

Guilt or innocence is not the real issue in his case. It's all about the
penalty. And, even if a jury does convict him and sentence him to death,
Nichols will likely spend the next 20 or 30 years fighting that sentence
while incarcerated in the same place and style he would have been if the
sentence had been life without parole. In most death penalty cases these
days, all the legal maneuvering is aimed at laying groundwork for the
appeal of the sentence, not the conviction.

Going into 2007, Cobb County had four death penalty cases finally ready,
after several years, to be scheduled for trial. In one of them, county
District Attorney Pat Head took the death penalty off the table just
before the start of the felony murder trial earlier this month for Craig
Michael Moore, accused of killing Jeffrey Stephenson, 52, a convenience
store clerk in 2002. Defense attorneys agreed to forgo a jury trial for
Moore if the death penalty was withdrawn. After that, the case was
literally adjudicated in a matter of days. Judge Robert Flournoy III found
Moore guilty of murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery and theft by
receiving. He sentenced Moore to life without parole on Monday.

(source: Opinion, Mike King, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)