[Deathpenalty] death penalty news------MD., OHIO, N.Y., S. DAK., ARK.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 25



MARYLAND:

Maryland Lawmakers Want Death Penalty Abolished


2 state lawmakers want to see Maryland abolish the death penalty, and
they've proposed a bill that would do just that.

Senator Lisa Gladden and Delegate Samuel Rosenberg plan to introduce bills
Thursday abolishing capital punishment.

Under Gladden and Rosenberg's proposal, the death penalty would be
replaced with life without parole.

The death penalty repeal legislation follows just weeks after a Maryland
Court of Appeals decision to halt the use of lethal injection in
executions until acceptable procedures are developed with oversight by the
Attorney General's office, the legislature, and comment by the general
public.

Given the costs around changing these protocols, some have recommended to
instead repeal the death penalty all together.

"There is a growing groundswell of support around death penalty repeal,
both in Maryland and nationally," said Jane Henderson, executive director
of MD Citizens Against State Executions. "An overwhelming majority of
Marylanders support replacing executions with life without parole and we
now have a governor who personally agrees that capital punishment is a
failure."

Proponents of the death penalty disagree. They think violent criminals and
killers should be subject to the same fate they handed their victims.

Fred Romano's sister was killed Steven Oaken--one of the last convicts to
be executed in Maryland. Last month, Romano commented on the case of
Vernon Evans, whose case is at the center of the recent freeze on Maryland
executions.

"All their saying is 'Vernon Evans you get a needle in your arm and go to
sleep.' If that's all you've got to do to pay for your crime, you
shouldn't complain," said Romano.

Other issues in play in the death penalty debate include racial bias. A
University of Maryland study released in 2003 found discrimination among
those sent to death row with the murder of a white person being twice as
likely to result in a death sentence as the murder of an african-american
person.

Further discrimination was found regarding the location of a crime and the
punishment received. If a murder is committed in suburban Baltimore
County, the study found that there is a 13 times greater chance of the
county pursuing the death penalty than if the crime was committed just
across the line in Baltimore city.

Until lawmakers act on the issue of capital punishment in Maryland, no
death sentences can be carried out statewide.

(source: CBS News)

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

Abolish death penalty, state Catholic conference says, supporting proposed
legislation


The death penalty in Maryland should be repealed as the only way to
prevent "zealous prosecutors" from resorting to the taking of life to
protect society, said the head of the states Catholic conference.

In a Jan. 25 statement, Richard J. Dowling, executive director of the
Maryland Catholic Conference, supported the introduction of legislation on
that day abolishing capital punishment in the state.

Under the proposal by Sen. Lisa Gladden, vice chair of the Judicial
Proceedings Committee, and House Del. Samuel Rosenberg, vice chair of the
Judiciary Committee, the death penalty would be replaced with life without
parole.

The repeal legislation follows just weeks after a Maryland Court of
Appeals decision to halt the use of lethal injection in executions until
acceptable procedures are developed with oversight by the state attorney
general's office, the legislature and comment by the general public.

In addition to problems with the lethal injection protocol, a University
of Maryland study released in 2003 found discrimination among those sent
to death row with the murder of a white person being twice as likely to
result in a death sentence as the murder of a black person.

Dowling noted that 20 years ago the statute allowing Maryland courts to
imprison those convicted of murder to a life sentence without the
possibility of parole was passed.

At that time, he said, "most state lawmakers viewed the sentence as an
acceptable alternative to the death penalty," noting that the Maryland
Catholic Conference agreed and supported the legislation.

"But the sad fact is that we still have executions in Maryland, and, if
zealous prosecutors have their way, we'll continue to have them," Dowling
said in the statement. "It's clear that only repeal can change that."

Noting that almost 2/3 of the state's residents supported life without
parole as an acceptable alternative to death by execution in a poll 2
years ago and recent discussion about "mistakes and biases that beset
death-penalty processes and proceedings here and around the country," the
executive director said that "support for repeal cannot have diminished.
If anything, it's picked up steam."

He pointed to Catholic Church leadership in the state, within the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Vatican promoting abolition of the
death penalty.

"For when all the legalistic arguments are offered and addressed, the
fundamental moral question remains: Are we permitted to take the life of
another human being? The teachings of our faith tell us that when other
punishment options are available, options like life-without-parole
sentences that protect society by rendering offenders incapable of doing
further harm, then we should not resort to killing," he said.

"We should not resort to killing, not even in the case of one who takes
the life of another," he said.

"There is a growing groundswell of support around death penalty repeal,
both in Maryland and nationally," said Jane Henderson, executive director
of MD Citizens Against State Executions. "An overwhelming majority of
Marylanders support replacing executions with life without parole and we
now have a governor who personally agrees that capital punishment is a
failure."

"From persistent racial discrimination to faulty evidence to innocent
convictions, the social, political and economic costs are too high to
continue the use of capital punishment," Henderson added. "The time for
repeal is now."

(source: Catholic Online US News)






OHIO:

Evidence came too late for death penalty----Beshara faces 26 years in
prison to life without parole.


If prosecutors had more evidence earlier in the case against Benjamin
Beshara in the murder of Marilyn Guthrie, they would likely have sought
the death penalty for him, according to Martin P. Desmond, assistant
Mahoning County prosecutor, and his boss, Prosecutor Paul Gains.

"If we would have had at the time of the indictment all the evidence we
had at the time of trial, chances are we would have sought the death
penalty," Desmond said.

Beshara, who was secretly indicted and arrested in May 2006, would have
qualified for the death penalty because he committed the murder in
conjunction with the kidnapping and aggravated robbery, Desmond said
Wednesday.

A jury rendered a guilty verdict Tuesday against Beshara, 33, in the
kidnapping, aggravated robbery and aggravated murder of Guthrie, 61, who
was abducted from outside her Niles apartment and placed in the trunk of
her car before being run over and killed July 10, 2005.

Desmond said Guthrie died of head injuries she received when Beshara, who
was her neighbor, drove her car over her on Parkcliff Avenue on
Youngstown's South Side. Beshara is facing 26 years in prison to life
without parole when he is sentenced at 11 a.m. Friday by Judge R. Scott
Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Statements agreed

Co-defendants Josiah Smith and Coryon Bertram, both 15 and of Second
Street, who pleaded guilty to kidnapping in county juvenile court; and
Anthony D. Johnson, 18, of Steel Street, who pleaded guilty to kidnapping,
aggravated robbery and the reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter,
said in their statements to authorities that Beshara ran over Guthrie,
Desmond said.

(source: The Vindicator)






NEW YORK:

Judge: Death penalty for killer druglord 'a waste of time & money'


A judge at the federal death penalty trial of a notorious crack kingpin
has warned prosecutors that pursuing a death sentence against him would be
a waste of time and money.

"There's no chance in the world there would be a death penalty verdict in
this case," U.S. District Judge Frederic Block said Wednesday while jurors
were on a break amid closing arguments in the guilt phase at the trial of
Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff.

If I'm wrong, I will have egg on my face," the Brooklyn judge said, "but I
will not be incorrect." According to a transcript obtained Thursday, Block
advised prosecutors to contact their superiors in Washington and ask them
to reconsider their decision to seek a death sentence. Even if McGriff is
convicted in a contract killing conspiracy, going forward with a penalty
phase would be pointless, he said.

"There's just no chance that 12 jurors will vote for the death penalty in
this case, and I think it is good for us to save money, if we can do that,
and judicial resources," he said. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's
office declined comment.

In the 1980s, McGriff founded the Supreme Team, a profitable and ruthless
drug crew that became legend on the same Queens streets that later
produced rap stars like Ja Rule and 50 Cent. Authorities allege that after
serving time for an earlier drug conviction, McGriff resumed his drug
dealing operations and paid $50,000 to have 2 rivals killed. (source: New
York Daily News)






SOUTH DAKOTA:

Efforts Under Way To Repeal South Dakota's Death Penalty


2 bills have been introduced in the South Dakota Legislature that would
repeal the death penalty.

One bill is in the Senate and the other is in the House.

Both measures would eliminate capital punishment in South Dakota -- which
would leave the maximum criminal penalty at life in prison without the
possibility of parole.

There have been numerous attempts in recent years to do away with the
execution law in South Dakota.

4 men are on death row in the state. South Dakota has not had an execution
since 1947.

(source: Associated Press)






ARKANSAS:

Prosecutor To Seek Death Penalty


Prosecutors will seek the death penalty in the capital-murder case against
a man accused of killing his girlfriend and her 2 children in late
December, the Sebastian County prosecutor said.

"We sent a letter (Monday) saying well seek the death penalty," said
Prosecuting Attorney Gunner DeLay.

James Aaron Miller, 30, was charged Dec. 27 with 3 counts of capital
murder in connection with the deaths of Bridgette Barr, 28, Sydney Barr,
5, and Garrett Barr, 2.

Police conducting a welfare check on Miller's home Dec. 26 found the
victims' decomposing bodies and surmised they had been dead of unclear
causes since Dec. 22.

Sebastian County prosecutors filed capital murder charges based partly on
an affidavit in which police stated that Miller said he strangled 2 of the
victims and probably killed the 3rd as well.

Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Dan Shue explained when the charges
against Miller were filed that prosecutors had to review the case before
deciding whether to pursue the death penalty.

In the letter announcing that decision, dated Jan. 22 and addressed to
current Division 1 Circuit Judge Norman Wilkinson, DeLay writes that the
state considered aggravating and mitigating circumstances as well as
"victim impact evidence" and consulted with law enforcement and the
victims' families.

A copy of the letter was sent to Miller's attorney, R. Derek Barlow of Van
Buren.

(source: The Times record)