[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, CALIF.

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 21


OHIO:

Attorney challenges death penalty


Another accused killer facing the death penalty if convicted is hoping
that he can convince a Lorain County judge to declare Ohios lethal
injection process unconstitutional.

Jack Bradley, defense attorney for Christopher Birriel-Torres, filed a
motion Thursday asking Common Pleas Judge James Miraldi to declare the
states lethal injection process cruel and unusual.

Bradley said he took the step after learning that the Ohio Supreme Court
had refused to halt an order from Common Pleas Judge James Burge that
forces the state to turn over detailed information on how it carries out
executions.

The state's argument that Burge overstepped his authority when he agreed
to hold hearings on the constitutionality of the death penalty has yet to
be ruled on by the high court.

Birriel-Torres and Jonathon Robles-Cruz are both charged in the 2006
slaying of Edgardo Alicea, whose body was discovered near railroad tracks
in Lorain.

(source: The Chronicle-Telegram)






CALIFORNIA:

Death-penalty foes make Inland stops in march


2 men marching from San Diego to Sacramento seeking to end California's
death penalty came to Riverside County on Friday to address a rally and
ask for prosecutors to stop filing for capital punishment.

About 50 people attended the noon rally in Riverside in front of the
Historic Courthouse on Main Street. Richard Carlburg , state death penalty
coordinator for Amnesty International USA in California, and Jeff Ghelardi
, a longtime death-penalty abolitionist and member of the San Diego
chapter of Death Penalty Focus, plan to visit 15 counties during their
800-mile trek.

With 61 inmates on San Quentin's death row, Riverside County has the
2nd-highest number of prisoners in California facing execution. It has the
highest per-capita in the state.

"The loss of loved ones demands that we seek the highest form of
punishment for the most dangerous criminals," District Attorney Rod
Pacheco said in a statement.

There are 667 inmates currently on death row. That number, Ghelardi said,
"reflects the state's ambivalence on the whole thing. That's what gives me
hope. Some day we are going to drop the whole thing, in the
not-too-distant future."

Executions in California stopped in December 2006 while a federal judge
reviews the state's protocol for administering lethal injections.

Carlburg and Gherlardi were joined by other speakers during the rally,
including Riverside County Public Defender Gary Windom. The 2 will stop at
noon Monday in front of the San Bernardino County Courthouse in downtown
San Bernardino.

(source: Press-Enterprise)

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

Suspect could get death penalty


Weston Scott Kruger faces murder, robbery charges. He had prior burglary,
domestic-violence charges, records show.

Family members of slain Newport Beach liquor store clerk Hao "Tony" Quang
Huynh filled the front row of the courtroom during Weston Scott Krugers
arraignment Friday.

"I want to know why he killed my brother and how," said a tearful Jenni
Huynh outside the courtroom.

The 6-foot-5, 275-pound Kruger is accused of killing Huynh July 28 in a
scuffle after the clerk accused him of shoplifting and chased him outside
of Sportsmans Liquor Store in Newport Beach.

Dressed in an orange jail uniform, Kruger pleaded not guilty to charges of
murder and robbery Friday. The defendant chatted casually with other
inmates in the Plexiglas courtroom holding cell before the hearing and
appeared unemotional during the proceedings.

Jenni Huynh carried a 4-by-6-inch snapshot of her brother to the hearing.
Wrapped in a computer printout of a news story about the case, the picture
shows Tony Huynh laid out in his coffin. The Huynh family has attended
each of Kruger's scheduled court appearances since Tony Huynh's death,
Jenni Huynh said.

"His (Tony Huynh's) children dont understand why he died," Jenni Huynh
said. "He was just working hard to give them a good life."

The prosecution says Kruger threw Huynh to the ground in an argument over
a pornographic magazine Huynh accused the defendant of stealing. Huynh
died the next day from massive head trauma.

Kruger was out on bail on separate charges of domestic violence and
burglary at the time of the altercation with Huynh, according to court
records.

Kruger is scheduled to be back in court for a preliminary hearing Nov. 29.

Kruger could face the death penalty or life without parole if he is
convicted of murder in the commission of a robbery under state special
circumstances laws, said Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew Murphy.

A committee of Orange County prosecutors will meet to discuss the case
before a decision is made to pursue special circumstances in the case,
Murphy said.

"The decision is up to the committee," he said.

(source: Daily Pilot)