[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.C., S.C., MISS., ALA., MD., NEV.

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 21



NORTH CAROLINA:

The death penalty fades away


The death penalty might as well be dead in North Carolina.

Take Robert Stewart. He admits to gunning down eight people in cold blood, many 
of them elderly and bedridden, at a Carthage nursing home. Because he says he 
was under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs, he's convicted of 
second-degree murder. Stewart, 47, is sentenced to 16 to 18 years per murder 
victim, which essentially pencils out to a life term.

Then there's Joshua Stepp. A Wake County jury couldn't bring itself to hand 
down the death penalty after convicting the Iraqi war vet of sexually 
assaulting and murdering his 10-month-old stepdaughter. After the jury hit an 
impasse on a sentence recommendation, Judge Osmond Smith sentenced Stepp to 
life in prison without possibility of parole.

Who can forget DeMario Atwater? In 2008, he and 17-year-old murder suspect 
Laurence Lovette (who also awaits trial in the slaying of Duke graduate student 
Abhijit Mahato) allegedly kidnapped Morehead Scholar and UNC-Chapel Hill 
student body president Eve Carson. They forced her to withdraw $1,400 from an 
ATM and then shot her with a .25-caliber handgun and finished her off with a 
blast to the head from a sawed-off shotgun. Atwater was allowed to plead guilty 
to numerous federal and state capital charges in exchange for a life sentence 
in federal prison.

If these men and their horrific acts can't draw the death penalty, who and what 
can?

Tony S. Summers can. Earlier this year he was sentenced to death after a 
Guilford County jury convicted him of repeatedly raping Lavell N. Williams in 
front of her 2 daughters before stabbing her to death and wounding the 
children. I won't second-guess the jury's judgment. But was his crime more 
heinous than those committed by Stewart, Stepp and Atwater? Summers' death 
sentence appears based more on geography than depravity.

Given the legal morass due to challenges by the North Carolina Medical Society 
and inmates who dispute the humaneness and protocol of lethal injection, 
Summers may die of old age before he faces the needle. But the cloud 
surrounding the state's death penalty appears to have dampened the public 
appetite for eye-for-an-eye justice. That reluctance also seems to have 
drastically reduced the desire of district attorneys to call for execution.

Thus far, only 9 capital cases have been heard this year in North Carolina. 
Summers received the sole death sentence. Last year, 13 capital cases went to 
trial, with 4 executions ordered. And in 2009, 9 capital trials were conducted, 
resulting in 2 death sentences.

Compare those numbers to those of a decade earlier when 64, 57 and 51 capital 
cases went to trial in 1999, 2000 and 2001 respectively, resulting in 56 death 
sentences.

The withering of capital cases and de facto moratorium on executions (the last 
here occurred in August 2006) suggests that any serious effort to officially 
end capital punishment isn't worth the effort.

I say it is, even if the interest is solely economic.

Philip J. Cook, ITT/Sanford professor of public policy and professor of 
economics and sociology at Duke University, calculated that the 25 capital 
cases heard in 2007 and 2008 (which resulted in only four death sentences) cost 
the state $22 million more than if these cases were adjudicated as non-capital 
cases. In his study, published in the American Law and Economics Review, Cook 
argues the money would have been better spent in other areas of the criminal 
justice system, including allowing district attorneys the resources to 
prosecute non-capital cases more fully.

No doubt, any serious campaign to overturn the death penalty in North Carolina 
will unleash a barrage of rallies, vigils, rhetoric and competing academic 
studies. But the evidence is clear that once North Carolinians are seated in a 
jury box, they seem willing to accept just about any legal argument to avoid 
imposing the ultimate punishment.

The message jurors are increasingly sending lawmakers is clear. It's time to 
put the final nail in the death penalty's coffin.

(source: Rick Martinez, Editorial, News & Observer)






SOUTH CAROLINA:

S.C. Supreme Court to get convicted killer's death sentence appeal


On Wednesday, attorneys for a death row inmate convicted of killing a Clemson 
student will argue that the death sentence should be thrown out. Lawyers for 
Jerry Buck Inman will go before the state Supreme Court in Columbia to appeal 
the death sentence. Inman pleaded guilty to raping and strangling Tiffany 
Souers back in 2006.

Faith Clark cannot look around her shop in Easley without thinking of Tiffany 
Souers. Souers, a Clemson student, volunteered at Clark's store. She sells 
children's toys to raise money to provide activities for disadvantaged youth 
and children.

Clark says Souers was her inspiration. Clark says, “She (Souers) was 20, and 
she had all of these big ideas, and I was like, ‘Yay! you go girl.”

Souers' aspirations were snatched from her when Jerry Buck Inman broke into her 
apartment, raped and strangled her five years ago. Clark says, “It's hard for 
me to talk about this story.”

Through the grieving, Clark started to help others....in an unlikely way that 
centers around the man who killed her friend. She started a ministry for 
troubled teens when she heard reports about Inman being abused as a child. 
Clark says, “I feel sorry for him. That's odd to say.”

Clark says it would be too emotional for her to attend Inman's appeal 
Wednesday. Defense attorneys plan to argue that prosecutors intimidated a 
witness and the judge wrongfully denied Inman the right to be sentenced by a 
jury.

Joe Watson is a former solicitor and judge. He is not connected to Inman's 
case. Watson says, “Ultimately over 50 % of capital cases get overthrown.” 
Watson goes on to says, “If you want me to make a prediction, I would say it 
would not succeed at this level.”

Watson thinks it's more likely that Inman's death sentence could get overthrown 
based on the advice his defense attorneys reportedly gave him about pleading 
guilty.

Clark says she doesn't know if she wants Inman to be saved from the death 
penalty. She says, “I think it's up to the Lord. I think whatever happens will 
be what the Lord wants.”

(source: Anderson Independent Mail)






MISSISSIPPI:

Mississippi teen charged with capital murder in alleged hate killing


A 19-year-old Mississippi man was charged with capital murder Tuesday in the 
death of an African-American man who died after allegedly being beaten by a 
group of white teens and run over by a truck, authorities said.

Deryl Paul Dedmon, 19, of Brandon, Mississippi was also charged by a grand jury 
with hate-crime enhancement in the murder of James Craig Anderson, said Hinds 
County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith.

The indictment alleges that Dedmon killed Anderson while in the commission of 
committing felony robbery, Smith said in a statement.

Anderson's family, however, is asking state and federal officials not to seek 
the death penalty in the case.

Relatives of Anderson, who died shortly after receiving his injuries on June 
26, sent a letter with their request to Smith, saying the family is opposed to 
the death penalty partly for religious reasons.

The indictment against Dedmon alleged Anderson was targeted because of his 
race.

Dedmon's arraignment has yet to be scheduled, Smith said.

Federal authorities have joined the local investigation, and both authorities 
are determining "the appropriate venue for the prosecution of any remaining 
suspects," Smith's statement said.

"All options are being considered and with each passing day, more evidence is 
being gathered," Smith said.

The death of Anderson, 48, occurred early June 26 in Jackson, allegedly at the 
hands of white teens who, after a night of partying and drinking, decided to go 
looking for black people to assault, law enforcement officials have said, 
quoting one of the suspects in the case.

Anderson's death drew national attention after CNN first reported it and aired 
exclusive surveillance video of the killing, captured by a parking lot security 
camera in a Jackson suburb.

Smith, the district attorney, has called it "vicious" and a "premeditated hate 
crime."

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the death as a possible federal 
hate crime and assisting local prosecutors. The killing has also prompted 
several large marches and prayer vigils in Jackson, a city of about 175,000 
people.

A 2nd teen, John Aaron Rice, 18, was initially charged with murder, but a judge 
reduced the charge to simple assault because Rice was not believed to be 
driving the vehicle used to kill Anderson.

However, Hinds County prosecutors have said they plan to seek indictments 
against Rice for murder and a hate crime, and will seek indictments against 
other teens who were at the scene.

The district attorney's office has not officially commented on the family's 
request for no death penalty in the case.

Last week, the Anderson family filed a wrongful death suit against all seven of 
the white teens alleged to have been present at the beating of Anderson that 
immediately preceded him being run over by the truck. The Southern Poverty Law 
Center, a nationally recognized organization based in Montgomery, Alabama, that 
opposes racism and intolerance, joined the lawsuit.

In addition to Dedmon and Rice, the lawsuit names 5 other teens as taking part 
in the incident: Sarah Graves of Crystal Springs; Shelbie Richards of Pearl; 
and William Kirk Montgomery, John Blaylock and Dylan Butler, all of Brandon. 
None of the five has been arrested or charged.

Anderson, a line worker at a Nissan plant, sang in his church choir, according 
to the family's attorney, Winston J. Thompson III. He leaves behind his partner 
of 17 years.

Attorneys for Dedmon and Rice have not responded to requests for comment from 
CNN.

During a recent bond hearing, Dedmon's attorney told the court he saw nothing 
to back up the "racial allegations."

A civil trial can proceed at the same time as a criminal case, but often the 
civil case is delayed pending the resolution of a criminal trial. While a 
criminal case is pending, a defendant in a civil case may need to invoke the 
Fifth Amendment.

Authorities believe Dedmon led and instigated the attack, which took place 
after a night of drinking in largely white Rankin County, outside Jackson.

The gang of teens climbed into Dedmon's green truck and a white SUV and drove 
16 miles to the western edge of Jackson. They would have seen Anderson 
immediately as they exited the highway, officials said. He was standing in a 
hotel parking lot just beyond the exit ramp.

On the videotape obtained exclusively by CNN, the group of teens is seen 
pulling into the parking lot and stopping where Anderson is standing, although 
he is just off camera and not visible.

The teens can then be seen going back and forth between their cars and 
Anderson.

Witnesses told authorities this is when Anderson's beating took place, as the 
teens yelled racial epithets, including "white power."

Authorities allege Dedmon and many of the other teens pummeled Anderson 
repeatedly as he crumpled to the ground, although this is not visible on the 
tape. After the beating, some of the teens left and others got into the green 
Ford truck.

At this moment, Anderson becomes visible on the tape as he staggers into view 
and walks toward the truck.

"Defendant Dedmon drove the F-250 out of the parking lot and turned right onto 
Ellis Avenue," the lawsuit says. "Just as Dedmon turned right, his headlights 
shone directly on Anderson, who, having been severely beaten, was stumbling in 
a grassy area near the motel's entrance. Dedmon accelerated, drove onto and 
over the street curb, and struck Anderson with the front of the F-250."

Shortly afterward, Dedmon allegedly boasted and laughed about the killing, 
according to statements some of the teens made to detectives. "I ran that 
n----- over," he allegedly said in a phone conversation to the teens in the 
other car.

The proceedings of the case are taking place in the Hinds County courthouse, 
where in 1994 Byron de la Beckwith was convicted in the notorious killing of 
civil rights leader Medgar Evers in 1963.

(source: CNN)






ALABAMA----impending execution

Death row inmate asks for last minute reprieves


Alabama death row inmate Derrick O'Neal Mason has asked the Alabama Supreme 
Court and Gov. Robert Bentley to stop his execution scheduled for Thursday.

The 37-year-old Mason is scheduled to die for the March, 1994 shooting death of 
25-year-old convenience store clerk Angela Cagle during an early morning 
robbery of a Majik Mart convenience store in Huntsville.

Mason is seeking a last minute stay of execution from the Alabama Supreme Court 
and a reprieve from Bentley, which were both pending Tuesday evening.

Mason has argued that his death sentence should be thrown out because his 
defense counsel was ineffective in the sentencing phase of the trial and that 
the judge who sentenced him to die has since written a letter asking that his 
life be spared.

(source: Associated Press)



MARYLAND:

Md. Court Upholds Standard for Death Penalty


Maryland's highest court has ruled that the standard jurors use in deciding 
whether to impose the death penalty is constitutional.

The Court of Appeals, by a 4-3 vote on Tuesday, disagreed with Jody Lee Miles' 
claim that the process for weighing the circumstances of the crime is 
unconstitutional in Maryland, because it doesn't use the court's highest 
threshold of certainty.

Miles was sentenced to death for the 1997 robbery and murder of theater manager 
Edward Atkinson of Salisbury. He is one of five men on death row in Maryland.

(source: Associated Press)






NEVADA:

Death penalty sought for 1 of 3 suspects in Katherine Cole slaying


Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for 1 of 3 people charged with the July 
slaying of 68-year-old Katherine Cole.

Cole's daughter, Autumn Cole, 44, was one of the defendants spared a possible 
death sentence.

Instead, prosecutors will seek capital punishment for Joseph Perez, 45, her 
boyfriend, and the person authorities think strangled Katherine Cole with a 
pillowcase twisted into a ligature.

The district attorney's death penalty committee met Tuesday and also decided 
not to seek the death penalty against the couple's friend, Lorenzo 
Cardenas-Sanchez, 38, who authorities allege was the getaway driver.

The 3 defendants were indicted by a grand jury last month on multiple felonies, 
including murder, robbery and kidnapping charges. They all have pleaded not 
guilty to the charges.

A trial date was set for Oct. 24 before District Judge Valerie Adair.

Prosecutors have called the slaying cold-blooded. They allege Autumn Cole and 
her co-defendants knew when her mother would be home from work and timed a 
break-in accordingly, leading to the strangulation of the woman.

Katherine Cole's body was discovered by police July 29 in the garage of her 
home near Valley View and Oakey boulevards.

All 3 defendants are being held without bail at the Clark County Detention 
Center.

The death penalty committee, whose meetings are not open to the public, looks 
at three factors when considering capital punishment: whether there are 
aggravating factors in the case, whether a jury would impose the death penalty 
as punishment and whether a conviction would stand up under appeal.

If it answered no to one of those factors, the committee would decide not to 
seek death for a defendant.

(source: Las Vegas Review-Journal)