[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----CALIF., MONT., NEB., OHIO, LA., MO., S.DAK.

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 3



CALIFORNIA:

California Supreme Court overturns O.C. killer's death sentence


The California Supreme Court on Thursday voted unanimously to overturn the 
death penalty for an Orange County man convicted of burning a woman to death 
over $100 of methamphetamine.

The high court ruled that Orange County Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan 
failed to properly instruct the jury that recommended the death sentence for 
Gary Galen Brents, who was convicted of the 1995 murder of Kelly Gordon.

Gordon was a prostitute who worked for Brents and had agreed to sell $100 in 
methamphetamine for him. When he tried to collect, she had neither the drugs 
nor the money.

Brents then tried to suffocate her, choked her and finally put her in the trunk 
of a car he doused with gasoline and ignited.

Attorneys in the case were not immediately available for comment. Brents could 
be sentenced to life in prison or prosecutors may seek to retry the penalty 
phase of his case.

(source: Los Angeles Times)






MONTANA:

Family of Cgy. man on U.S. death row pleads for his life


After 30 years of silence while Ronald Smith sat on death row in Montana, his 
family is finally speaking out with an impassioned plea that his life be 
spared.

Smith, who was from Red Deer, Alta., was convicted and sentenced to death for 
the 1982 murders of Thomas Running Rabbit and Harvey Mad Man near East Glacier, 
Mont.

Smith and an accomplice were hitchhiking when the victims offered them a ride. 
The group partied for a while and then Smith and the other man, both high on 
drugs and alcohol, marched Running Rabbit and Mad Man into the woods and shot 
them in the head so they could steal the car.

Smith originally requested the death penalty but later changed his mind and has 
been fighting a battle ever since to simply live out his days at Montana State 
Prison in Deer Lodge.

But an application for clemency has now been filed with the final decision on 
whether he lives or dies ending up in the hands of Montana Gov. Brian 
Schweitzer.

"I had said to my father that I thought it was time to maybe step forward and I 
haven't seen that much protection come out of my father in a very long time. He 
told me no," his daughter Joan told The Canadian Press in a tearful interview.

"I told him that he was my family and I was willing to do anything to help save 
him. I don't want to lose him. That's why I made the decision," she said 
softly.

Joan was 5 years old when her father went to prison. She had been living with 
her mother and remembers a loving father who would flip her up in the air. Now 
35 with 2 children of her own, she has come to know a man who is gentle and 
supportive.

She said she wasn't even a teenager when she learned what Smith had been 
convicted of, and it created a lot of emotional trauma.

"For a long time I blamed myself because I wasn't a bigger part of his life," 
she said, weeping. "I used to think if my mom had let me have contact with him 
more that maybe it wouldn't have happened. I was angry with him for a while 
because I thought, `how dare you - you have me.' "

Smith's sister Sandy had just finished high school when he was convicted.

She said the entire family was ostracized because of what had happened. She 
moved away from Red Deer soon after and said anger and the shame of what Ron 
had done kept her from contacting him for 16 years.

She said he had always been their protector from an abusive father and someone 
she could always count on.

"It was very hard on me to fathom what he had done and I felt I just had to 
take myself away from the situation for a while, which wasn't fair to him," 
Sandy said from her home in northern Alberta.

"I decided I would never step away from him again but he understood," she 
sighed.

A clemency hearing will likely be held this spring. The board of pardons and 
paroles will make a recommendation but it will be the governor that has to make 
the tough decision.

"I want people to know that he is not that monster - that piece of scum that 
people call him. He has taken responsibility. He has to live with what he has 
done every single day and that is part of the punishment," Sandy said.

"This could happen in any family and I want people to know he is real. He is 
loved and he is so remorseful. I think the governor is in quite the position. I 
would just hope that he could see Ronald is a changed man and the devastation 
of Ron's death to so many people will be so hard."

Sandy still has the last gift Ron ever gave her -- a pair of heart shaped 
earrings that she received on Christmas Day 1978.

She would like to give him one special gift of her own.

"When I visit we are always behind glass. Touching isn't allowed but more than 
anything I wish I could give him a hug."

Joan isn't sure she will go to the clemency hearing but hopes Schweitzer will 
hear her plea.

"I want to let people know that the man I know is not the man that everybody 
thinks he is. I would like him to look at my Dad and see how much he's changed 
and how remorseful. I go to him for everything -- good and bad. He's the one I 
go to for advice."

(source: Canadian Press)

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

Ronald Smith's family say death-row inmate is a changed man


The daughter and sister of Alberta-born killer Ronald Smith, the only Canadian 
on death row in the United States, have spoken for the first time publicly to 
insist the 54-year-old convict is "a different person" from the young man who 
committed a horrific double-murder nearly 30 years ago in Montana, and to 
appeal to Canadians to support Smith's newly filed bid for clemency from 
execution.

The 2 women, both of whom live in Alberta and asked not to have their names 
published, also expressed dismay at comments this week from Conservative 
Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu — for which he later apologized — that some 
jailed killers should be offered a rope to allow them to commit suicide in 
their cells.

"I think that's very sad," Smith's 36-year-old daughter told Postmedia News. "I 
know everybody's entitled to their own opinion. But it's hard to believe 
somebody from Parliament would say that."

Smith's sister, 48, said her brother remains the "pillar" of her family — "he 
was always very kind and compassionate and caring" — even though he's been 
incarcerated at Montana State Prison, near the state capital of Helena, for 
more than a quarter of a century.

Both women say they visit Smith once a year or more and maintain regular 
contact by phone, seeking his advice about family matters and his comfort in 
difficult times, such as the recent death of Smith's mother.

The killer's closest female relatives acknowledged they were encouraged by 
Smith and his lawyers to publicly convey their support for the clemency 
request, expected to be reviewed by the state's parole board in the coming 
weeks and ultimately decided upon by Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer.

Smith's sister, who plans to address the parole board personally, said she 
talked to him years ago about speaking to the news media "to show the changes 
that he's made over the last number of years, to humanize him."

She added: "A few weeks ago, he said: 'Maybe the time is now.' "

Smith's daughter — the mother of his 2 teenage grandchildren — said, "being at 
school has been hard on them. My dad does come up in current events. It's a 
struggle."

But she said she and the children talk frequently by phone with Smith.

"My dad is my sounding board," she said. "We talk about everything. He helps me 
a lot."

Her children "love their granddad," she said, adding that her son often "talks 
about when granddad's going to be home one day."

Smith has confessed to the August 1982 shooting deaths of Thomas Running Rabbit 
and Harvey Mad Man, 2 young cousins from Montana's Blackfoot Indian nation.

At the time of the murders, Smith acknowledged that he killed the 2 men — who 
had offered a ride to Smith and two hitchhiking friends from Canada — simply to 
steal their car. Smith initially requested the death penalty for the crime and 
a judge promptly granted that wish, but the Canadian later launched a series of 
appeals that has delayed his execution for almost 3 decades.

With his appeal options now exhausted, Smith recently filed an official request 
for clemency with the Montana parole board, essentially placing his fate in 
Schweitzer's hands.

Canada's Conservative government — after attempting in 2007 to halt all 
lobbying on Smith's behalf by Canadian diplomats — was ordered by the Federal 
Court in 2009 to back the clemency bid. In December, Foreign Affairs Minister 
John Baird sent a letter to Montana's parole board confirming that Canada wants 
Smith's death sentence commuted, but pointed out that the government "does not 
sympathize with violent crime," and that the country's formal request for 
clemency "should not be construed as reflecting a judgment on Smith's conduct."

Both Smith's sister and daughter expressed hope that the Canadian government's 
support — court-ordered or not — might ultimately save his life.

"We're very grateful that they're helping us," said the daughter, adding that 
she believes most Canadians oppose capital punishment but hopes they would also 
back the push for clemency because of what she describes as the 
"transformation" her father has made in his life since 1982.

"I hope they would look at all aspects of it and judge him on who he is, not on 
who he was," she said. "He is a different person."

Smith's daughter, when asked what she would say to the families of his two 
victims, said: "I would hope they would see it in their hearts to have 
forgiveness for him. I would hope they would see he has changed and he's very, 
very remorseful."

The women's comments about Smith echoed the themes contained in his lawyers' 
19-page application for clemency, delivered last month to state parole 
officials and setting the stage for Schweitzer's life-or-death decision, likely 
to come later this year.

The clemency request, accompanied by two lengthy letters of support from a 
Catholic priest and a retired prison educator, detailed Smith's record as a 
model inmate, the abusive childhood Smith suffered growing up Alberta and his 
"heartfelt remorse" over the killings of Mad Man and Running Rabbit.

(source: PostMemdia News)






NEBRASKA:

Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentence in GI Double Homicide


A man convicted of a violent double homicide in Grand Island should be put to 
death, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled Friday.

Marco Torres was convicted of killing Ed Hall and Tim Donohue. As a 1st degree 
murder case, there was an automatic appeal.

The state's high court found no merit to most of Torres' arguments.

Attorneys for Torres argued the state changed its method of execution from the 
electric chair to lethal injection during the time this case was progressing 
through the courts, so they said there was no valid method of execution. 
Justices disagreed, and affirmed the death penalty.

Hall County Attorney Mark Young thanked Attorney General Jon Bruning's staff 
for their work on the case.

Torres was given the death penalty by a panel of 3 judges in 2010. In their 
ruling, the judges called it a senseless crimes, without regard for human life.

A jury convicted Torres of torturing homeowner Ed Hall, binding him with an 
electrical cord, and gagging him with a bathrobe belt. Hall was shot three 
times, as was Donohue, who lived in a room upstairs in Hall's home.

The murders happened in 2007. Ed Hall owned the home where Jose Cross, Gina 
Padilla, and Tim Donohue lived. Cross and Padilla were involved in a previous 
incident with Torres when he was convicted of kidnapping Billy Packer, biding 
him in duct tape until Torres got meth from him. That was a month prior to the 
double murder.

Donohue suffered 1 shot to the chest and 2 to the head. 2 different 
pathologists who testified in the case said he died during the same time as 
Hall, who was shot 3 times.

Torres used Hall's ATM card at a cash machine, and later at Walmart, where he 
was seen on video. He was also seen leaving a white Ford, matching Hall's car.

Torres checked into a motel, where he stayed a few days. He told Jose Cross he 
had "put Hall and Donohue to sleep" according to the judges.

Torres then drove to Houston, where he is from. He destroyed the car by fire, 
and was arrested.

The judges found forensics did tie Torres to the crime scene. They pointed to 
DNA found on a cigarette in Donohue's room, as well as DNA on the orange 
extension cord and bathrobe belt that was in Hall's mouth. Torres apparently 
told inmates he'd done it, and in the words of the judges "initiated schemes to 
free himself."

(source: Nebraska TV)

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

'Boys Don't Cry' inmate appeals to Supreme Court


A Nebraska death row inmate whose murder case inspired the 1999 film "Boys 
Don't Cry" has filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

John Lotter and a co-defendant were convicted in the 1993 slaying of a 
21-year-old woman who lived briefly as a man and two witnesses to the killing. 
Lotter has maintained his innocence.

In August, a 3-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected 
Lotter's attempt to appeal his conviction. His request for the full court to 
consider his appeal was denied.

The Lincoln Journal Star (http://bit.ly/A4O5nN ) reports that in a letter filed 
Thursday, the 8th Circuit informed the U.S. District Court in Nebraska about 
the Supreme Court filing.

There's no word yet on whether the Supreme Court will hear the case.

(source: Associated Press)






OHIO:

Deters challenges Supreme Court justice on death penalty


Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters called on Friday for Ohio Supreme Court 
Justice Paul Pfeifer to stop deciding death penalty cases because of the 
justice’s recent public criticism of capital punishment.

Deters, a staunch death penalty supporter, also blasted Pfeifer for suggesting 
Hamilton County too often seeks the death penalty in murder cases.

“Justice Pfeifer’s continued participation in deciding death penalty cases is 
inappropriate,” Deters said in a letter sent Friday to judges and fellow 
prosecutors across the state. “It gives rise to a credible inference that he 
cannot be fair to both sides.”

The letter is the latest volley in an intensifying debate between Pfeifer and 
Deters over the future of capital punishment in Ohio.

Pfeifer, a Republican who helped write Ohio’s death penalty law as a state 
legislator in 1981, voiced his concerns during a House committee hearing in 
December and has singled out Deters in subsequent remarks to the media.

Deters especially took issue with comments Pfeifer made last month to his 
hometown newspaper, the Bucyrus Telegraph Forum. “I know that Joe Deters in 
Hamilton County – his attitude is that they are all death penalty cases. It is 
just the luck of the draw as to where it happens.”

Pfeifer said Friday his comments were not meant as a criticism of Deters, but 
rather to point out the uneven use of the death penalty around the state. 
Hamilton County leads the state with 28 inmates on death row – 19 percent of 
Ohio’s 148 condemned prisoners. Franklin County, with a larger population, has 
11 death row inmates.

Pfeifer said prosecutors’ different attitudes and approaches to the death 
penalty mean convicted killers are more likely to get a death sentence in some 
counties than in others.

“Joe misreads me if he thinks I’m attacking him. He’s made himself Exhibit A 
for the hard-nosed approach on these,” Pfeifer said. “I’ve always thought of 
Joe as a tough, hard-nosed prosecutor, and that’s not a criticism at all.”

When asked about Deters’ reaction, Pfeifer said, “Perhaps he’s got a little bit 
of a glass jaw.”

Deters said Pfeifer is wrong to suggest his office seeks the death penalty more 
often than others. Supreme Court records show that since 1999 Hamilton County 
indicted 55 people on death penalty charges, compared to 182 in Franklin County 
and 390 in Cuyahoga County.

Deters said Hamilton County sends more inmates to death row because he rarely 
considers a plea bargain to a reduced charge, such as life without parole, in 
cases deemed serious enough to seek the death penalty. In other counties, such 
plea bargains are more common.

“Justice Pfeifer is making public pronouncements that we treat every case as a 
death penalty case, and if you look at the statistics, that’s clearly not the 
case,” Deters said.

He said Pfeifer should recuse himself from deciding future death penalty 
appeals because of his public comments about its fairness and his 
recommendation that the state consider abolishing it now that sentences of life 
without parole are possible.

Pfeifer, however, said judges are permitted to suggest changes in state law as 
long as they follow the law that’s currently on the books, which he said he 
will continue to do.

“I know the difference between advocating for a change in the law and applying 
the law as it exists,” he said.

(source: Cincinnati.com)






LOUISIANA:

Jury deadlocks over death penalty in Orleans Parish double murder


An Orleans Parish jury deadlocked over the death penalty for Kenneth Barnes 
late Thursday in the 2009 execution of a 19-year-old couple following an early 
morning robbery and kidnap-for-ransom attempt that ended in an abandoned Gert 
Town house. Barnes, 25, will get two life prison sentences for killing Calyisse 
Perkins and Fitzgerald Phillips.

The jury that convicted him Wednesday spent two hours deliberating before 
returning deadlocked in the penalty phase at 10:40 p.m. after hearing tearful 
testimony from family members of the victims, while those supporting Barnes 
insisted he could be redeemed.

The couple's family members were subdued afterward, saying they were satisfied 
that Barnes will spend the rest of his life behind bars following a sentencing 
scheduled for March 1.

"I'm happy with the verdict, said Perkins' mother, Sheila Reneau, who had 
favored the death penalty for Barnes.

Perkins was a literacy tutor and recent graduate of John Ehret High School in 
Marrero. Phillips studied at Southern University of New Orleans.

Barnes was the last of three defendants convicted of kidnapping Perkins and 
Phillips from the French Quarter, robbing them in Algiers and demanding $10,000 
ransom before the teens were shot point-blank inside the empty house.

His co-defendants, Layman Foster and Gregory Vincent Jr., both testified 
against him in exchange for leniency deals from Orleans Parish District 
Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's office.

Barnes was the only one of the three to face a capital trial in the killings.

Prosecutors claimed he was the triggerman and ringleader in a revenge killing. 
Barnes and Phillips did marijuana deals together, and Barnes was steamed at 
being overcharged in a deal, they argued.

His nickname, "Killa," was spray-painted on a wall inside the house where the 
couple turned up dead in the 2900 block of Broadway, prosecutors said.

On Thursday, defense attorney Donald Sauviac Jr. painted Barnes as a victim of 
circumstance who grew up in the Calliope public housing project without a 
father, suffered a head injury in a car accident as a child and never caught a 
break.

Witnesses testified that he helped people flee the Ninth Ward for the Superdome 
in Hurricane Katrina and that he took care of a wheelchair-bound uncle.

"There is still something he's able to offer others: His kids, his brother, his 
brothers' family," Sauviac argued. "If you make the decision of death, there's 
no turning back from it. You can't undo it."

Prosecutor John Alford, however, described Barnes as a merciless thug who 
idealized merciless thugs, an "unforgivable, beyond rehabilitation, 
psycho-driven murderer and he deserves to die.

"For Kenneth Barnes, a life sentence is a family reunion," Alford said. "Angola 
is filled to the brim with friends of Kenneth Barnes, with family of Kenneth 
Barnes. That's where he always thought he'd end up."

Following Barnes' conviction Wednesday, Cannizzaro's office had offered him a 
deal: 2 life sentences and another 40 years for the kidnapping, but no death, 
Sauviac said.

He said Barnes accepted it, but that prosecutors reneged Thursday morning 
before the jury began hearing evidence in the penalty phase.

Sauviac called the trial, which started with jury selection Jan. 9, "an 
exercise in futility."

"We wasted a month of jury time. We financially broke the public defender 
system," he said. "They could have tried 10 other murder trials in this section 
for half the price."

Early in the trial, Sauviac asked to withdraw from the case because the Orleans 
Parish public defender's office announced it was suspending payments to private 
contract lawyers in a cost-cutting move. Judge Lynda Van Davis refused.

This week, Chief Public Defender Derwyn Bunton laid off nearly a third of his 
attorney staff and a half-dozen investigators and other support staff.

Cannizzaro issued a statement after Davis declared a mistrial once the jury 
said it couldn't agree.

"This was an extremely brutal crime," he said in the statement. "Unfortunately, 
we have become to(sic) desensitized to violence in New Orleans, and the 
ruthless kidnapping and execution of 2 college students does not shock the 
conscious like it may in other communities. However, I will not hesitate to 
seek the death penalty against remorseless murderers such as Barnes."

(source: The Times-Picayune)


MISSOURI----new death sentence

Jury recommends death for Franklin County man who killed girlfriend

A Franklin County jury on Thursday convicted a Pacific man of 1st-degree murder 
in the stabbing death of his girlfriend and recommended that a judge sentence 
him to death.

Defense attorneys for Vernell Loggins Jr., 39, had sought a 2nd-degree murder 
verdict, but prosecutors successfully argued that he showed "cool reflection" 
and deliberation when he stabbed Stephanie Fields 25 times.

Loggins, a trucker, did not take the stand.

Jurors deliberated nearly 6 hours on Wednesday and another hour on Thursday 
before returning the verdict of 1st-degree murder.

After 5 hours of further deliberation, the jury recommended the death penalty 
for Loggins.

"The death penalty isn't quite as gruesome as the death my daughter went 
through, but and least he's not going anywhere," said Harold Fields, 
Stephanie's father.

A judge will ultimately determine if Loggins gets life in prison or the death 
penalty. Sentencing is set for March 12.

Maintenance workers found parts of Fields' body Nov. 3, 2009, under ice in a 
trash can at the Monroe Woods Apartments in Pacific, where Loggins lived. Her 
head and forearms had been cut off and the trash can had been glued shut. She 
was 25 and had a daughter, who is now 13.

Jurors, who were sequestered in a hotel during the trial, saw graphic photos of 
Fields' body. They also saw a video of Loggins buying a trash can, glue, carpet 
cleaner and Tide detergent from the Walmart in Eureka a day before Fields' body 
was found. Fields' blood was found in every room of Loggins' apartment, even on 
the ceiling fan.

The jury heard testimony Thursday from families of Fields and Loggins.

Loggins' older sister Erica Tullison of Memphis, Tenn., told the jury of hiding 
in a closet from their abusive father, who threatened their mother with a gun 
and fired shots around their home. 2 other sisters told of their love for 
Loggins, as did his mother.

Another sister had to be taken from the courthouse to a hospital by stretcher 
after suffering heart problems after the verdict was announced.

His 5th-grade teacher, Charles Allen, also of Memphis, told the jury that 
Loggins was an inquisitive child, and he kept a log of the questions Loggins 
asked as a student in an inner-city school. Allen even visited Loggins in jail 
following his arrest for Fields' murder.

"Vernell was one of the special ones," Allen told the jury.

Fields' mother, Faith Fields of House Springs, told of how her daughter sang to 
her sister before they fell asleep as children, and how she'd exclaim, "Dad, 
let's kick it," and dance with him to songs on the radio.

She misses her daughter's laugh.

"But sometimes I hear it though, in her daughter," she said.

(source: St. Louis Today)






SOUTH DAKOTA:

Berget: 'I believe I deserve the death penalty'----Lawyer argues inmate sees 
execution as means of escape


The man who killed a corrections officer with a metal pipe during an escape 
attempt last April says he deserves to die for his crime, but his lawyer says 
giving him the death sentence he wants would simply end his suffering.

Rodney Berget, 49, told Judge Brad Zell on Thursday that when he killed 
63-year-old Ron Johnson, he knew what he was doing and that he took away a 
father, a husband and a grandfather.

“I’m not gonna beg the court or ask the court to spare my life. I believe I 
deserve the death penalty for what I’ve done,” Berget said.

Berget’s co-defendant, Eric Robert, also asked for the death penalty in October 
for his role in the crime, admonishing Judge Brad Zell to “do the right thing” 
and sentence him to death.

Berget did not apologize to Johnson’s family during his statement, but said his 
actions ensured that they will never see him again.

His lawyer, Jeff Larson, later told Zell that Berget does feel remorse for the 
killing and escape attempt, which he and Robert didn’t realize coincided with 
the officer’s 63rd birthday.

Larson told Zell that the men could have tied Johnson up, but they each knew 
that if they didn’t escape, they’d only go back to prison.

A murder would bring them the death penalty and free them from a life behind 
bars, even send other inmates with life sentences the message that killing an 
officer is a way to die in the spotlight.

“Johnson would be alive today if South Dakota didn’t have the death penalty,” 
Larson said during closing arguments.

The defense lawyer said Berget’s criminal behavior does not define his life, 
which included an upbringing with a violent, alcoholic father and the execution 
of a brother for an Oklahoma murder in 2000.

“He did horrible acts on two different days of his life, and that life spanned 
49 years today. But it didn’t happen in a vacuum, either,” Larson said. “There 
were factors outside his control that pushed him in the direction of the poor 
choices he made and is responsible for.”

Attorney General Marty Jackley, who is prosecuting the case, disputed the 
characterization of the death penalty as a means to freedom for Berget.

Instead, Jackley said, the death penalty is the only way to ensure that an 
inmate with more than 7 escapes and escape attempts on his record will not pose 
a future threat. Berget has been incarcerated for most of his life, starting at 
age 15.

Berget is serving 2 life sentences for a rape, attempted murder and kidnapping 
from 2003.

“Berget’s extreme violent actions and his escape history can be ended only with 
the imposition of the death penalty,” Jackley said.

Beyond that, he said, South Dakotans demand a death sentence for certain 
crimes.

“Capital punishment is an expression of society’s outrage,” Jackley said.

Zell alone will decide if Berget should receive a death sentence, which he 
issued for Robert in October. Berget pleaded guilty to 1st-degree murder in 
November.

Robert and Berget were apprehended after beating Johnson with a pipe, wrapping 
his head in plastic then using his uniform, a wheeled cart and a large box to 
try to walk out of the prison’s west gate.

A 3rd inmate, 47-year-old Michael Nordman, faces murder charges for allegedly 
trading the pipe and plastic for a makeshift knife. Jackley has not said 
whether the state will seek the death penalty in that case.

Berget’s pre-sentence hearing began Monday. Closing statements were made 
Thursday. Zell has said he intends to issue a written ruling for Berget, as he 
did for Robert.

The decision could come as early as today.

(source: Sioux Falls Argus Leader)