[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., MONT., GA., CONN.

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 22


PENNSYLVANIA:

Staton loses Supreme Court appeal


Death row inmate Andre Staton may be a step closer to execution for the 2004 
murder of his former girlfriend.

After nearly a 5-year wait, the state Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously 
rejected his appeal that the Blair County District Attorney's Office shouldn't 
have been allowed to use the aggravating circumstance of Staton being under a 
protection-from-abuse order when he stabbed Beverly Yohn at her Altoona home.

It was 1 of 2 aggravating circumstances prosecutors used in obtaining the 
death-penalty verdict against Staton. A jury found that the aggravating 
circumstances outweighed 4 mitigating circumstances when it handed down the 
verdict.

Staton, 48, was sentenced to death June 1, 2006. He is incarcerated at the 
State Correctional Institution at Greene, Greene County.

Staton claimed that he wasn't aware of the PFA orders that were issued against 
him at Yohn's request - 1 temporary and 1 final.

The high court ruled otherwise.

There is no dispute that Staton was never formally served with either order, 
but Staton "avoided that service" by the Blair County Sheriff's Department, 
Chief Justice Ronald Castille wrote for the court.

Witnesses also testified that Staton knew about the orders not only from Yohn 
but also from a Family Services Inc. employee at the Blair County PFA Office, 
Castille said.

Attorney Thomas N. Farrell of Pittsburgh, who represented Staton in his appeal, 
said he probably won't ask the state Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling.

An appeal could be made directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"It would be very difficult because this particular issue is a state question 
not a federal question," Farrell said. "The Supreme Court does not handle state 
questions; it handles federal questions."

While it was not a specific part of Staton's appeal, the high court also ruled 
the evidence presented at trial was sufficient for a 1st-degree murder 
conviction. A copy of the ruling will be sent to Gov. Tom Corbett, who would 
have to issue an execution warrant against Staton.

The ruling issued Tuesday was long delayed because of the numerous attorneys 
who had been appointed for Staton, the Supreme Court noted. Farrell is Staton's 
7th appeals attorney. The prior 6 either withdrew from the case or were removed 
by court order.

(source: The Altoona Mirror)






MONTANA:

Canadian awaiting execution in Montana says there is a good chance his life 
will be spared


A Canadian awaiting execution in Montana for a 1982 killing said Wednesday that 
he thinks there is a good chance the governor will spare his life now that he's 
a far different person than the out-of-control youth that took the lives of 2 
young Blackfeet Indian men.

Ronald A. Smith of Red Deer, Alberta, has exhausted his legal appeals and is 
asking for life in prison instead of the death penalty.

Smith told The Associated Press in a prison interview that leniency from Gov. 
Brian Schweitzer is his only remaining option to avoid the death penalty, and 
he believes the governor will recognize that he is a changed man. Smith is 
speaking out in interviews for the 1st time in an effort to demonstrate he is 
worthy of executive clemency.

The Canadian government also now formally supports clemency for Smith, although 
the 54-year-old convict said he thinks the support from his home country is 
only lukewarm and won't have much bearing on the governor's final decision.

But Smith's case faces strong opposition from another government, the Blackfeet 
Tribal Council, and family members of the victim.

Smith was sentenced to death in March 1983, seven months after he marched 
cousins Harvey Mad Man, 23, and Thomas Running Rabbit, 20, into the woods just 
off U.S. 2 near Marias Pass and shot them both in the head with a .22-caliber 
rifle. They had picked up Smith, who was partying his way around northern 
Montana with some friends.

Smith, who was 24 at the time of the killings, said he looks back on that 
killing with deep regret — although he tries not to dwell on it much because it 
is too depressing.

"I look back with disgust at what happened," said Smith. "Regardless of the 
drugs and alcohol that were involved, it was obviously ridiculous events that 
took place. I now just recognize the foolishness of it all."

Smith said he was heavily intoxicated that day and doesn't have a strong 
recollection of the men he killed.

Smith said he can understand why most of the family members of the victims are 
angry with him and continue to ask the governor to keep the death penalty 
intact. But Smith said he has rehabilitated himself with an education and by 
reconnecting severed ties with his own family, who he now talks to on an almost 
daily basis over the telephone.

"I kind of hope they would recognize I am not the same person. Obviously, I 
committed those crimes. I am not trying to say I didn't. But I am not the same 
person anymore," Smith said. "It is hard. What do you say, what can you say, to 
the families you have taken lives from?"

The Blackfeet Nation is also taking a hard stance with Smith, and pressuring 
Schweitzer to dismiss Smith's request.

"We feel that if the governor were to grant clemency, that means the governor 
views Native American life different than other lives in Montana," said tribal 
council member and state Sen. Shannon Augare of Browning. "This was a huge, 
devastating tragedy in our community. We still feel very strong emotions from 
the various family members that were affected by that tragedy. In short, we 
want to ensure that justice prevails here."

Schweitzer has been mostly silent on the case recently. In the past, he has 
indicated that the stance of the Canadian government won't affect his decisions 
much.

The Canadian government has not formally reached out to the governor on the 
matter I years, and over that time had a short-lived internal switch in policy 
where it was not seeking relief for Smith.

The governor has met with family members of the victims and told them he has a 
"moral obligation" to think of them first in any decision.

During his political campaigns, Schweitzer has expressed support for the death 
penalty. But while in office, he has said such decisions should not be taken 
lightly.

The Montana Board of Pardons and Parole will hear Smith's case on May 2. That 
board will send a recommendation to the governor, who has the final word.

The Montana attorney general's office said it will continue to defend the 
conviction.

"The state of Montana will file a written response opposing Ronald Allen 
Smith's petition and intends to defend the strong court record upholding his 
original death sentences," said attorney general spokesman John Doran.

If the governor rejects Smith's petition, it may not be much longer until he 
faces the death penalty. His execution is only now being formally delayed as 
legal arguments continue over whether the lethal injection method currently 
used by Montana is constitutional.

Smith, who has lived for 30 years in the least-comfortable maximum security 
portion, said he doubts that legal arguments in the court system will delay his 
death sentence much longer.

Smith said under the best case scenario he still spends the rest of his life 
behind bars. But he hopes Schweitzer will spare his life despite the strong 
emotions involved in the case.

"It is definitely going to be difficult from a personal perspective for him. 
Whatever decision he makes will be difficult," Smith said.

(source: Associated Press)






GEORGIA----new death sentence

Man gets death penalty in 2008 murder

A New Jersey man found guilty Friday in the grisly murder of a Newton County 
man was sentenced to death Tuesday evening in Newton County Superior Court.

Despite indications earlier in the day that one juror was holding out against 
the death penalty, the jury of seven women and five men returned a unanimous 
verdict of death at about 7 p.m.

Rodney R. Young was found guilty on all 5 counts he faced -- malice murder, 2 
counts of felony murder, aggravated assault and burglary -- in connection with 
the bludgeoning and stabbing death of 28-year-old Gary Lamar Jones in 2008.

Judge Samuel Ozburn presided over the trial prosecuted by District Attorney 
Layla Zon and Assistant District Attorney Melanie Bell with attorneys Joseph 
Romond and Teri Thompson of the Office of the Georgia Capital Defender 
representing the defendant.

Jones, an employee of Red Lobster restaurant in Conyers and an active member of 
Springfield Baptist Church, was found dead in his home on March 30, 2008, by 
his mother Doris Jones who had recently moved from New Jersey to Georgia to 
live with her son at 65 Benedict Drive.

Evidence soon pointed to Young with whom the mother had had a relationship. 
Young was arrested in his hometown of Bridgeton, N.J., less than a week after 
the slaying. He was extradited and had been awaiting trial at the Newton County 
Detention Center.

Faced with overwhelming evidence, the defense conceded that Young committed the 
crime, but maintained he is mentally retarded and, according to attorney 
Thompson who made the closing argument for the defense, "possessed no level of 
sophistication, no planning," in connection with the crime that included 
battering with a hammer and inflicting multiple stab wounds on the victim.

In his charge to the jury, Ozburn instructed them on each charge that they 
could find the defendant guilty, not guilty or guilty but mentally retarded. 
The latter charge would have meant that Young would be remanded to the Georgia 
Department of Corrections which would see to it that mental health treatment 
was provided to him. The guilty verdict meant that the trial moved into the 
sentencing phase Monday.

(source: Rockdale Citizen)






CONNECTICUT:

Battle brewing over death penalty repeal


In a rare parliamentary move that sent a message to death penalty opponents, 
minority Republicans on the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday voted against 
allowing a measure repealing capital punishment to move forward for a public 
hearing.

The maneuver failed, but the vote sets the scene for contentious debates in 
committee and eventually the floors of the House and Senate on the proposed 
repeal, which is supported by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield, D-New Haven, the Legislature's major proponent of 
the repeal, said after the committee meeting that he was "a little 
disappointed" some members voted to kill it in committee.

"I have voted for bills that I just flat do not like," Holder-Winfield said in 
an interview. "I think almost everything we bring here deserves consideration, 
and that's all that this process is about. When you're a legislator and you 
don't want to have the discussion, you should really consider what you're doing 
here."

Holder-Winfield said he expects repeal opponents this year to use a variety of 
tactics to kill the legislation. "In some respects that is their job, but the 
other thing you have to weigh is what your real job here is and that is to 
represent everyone in the state," he said.

Voting to "raise" a bill basically allows the measure to be drafted and to 
receive a public hearing.

2 opponents of a repeal who approved raising the legislation, Sen. Paul Doyle, 
D-Wethersfield and Rep. Bob Godfrey, D-Danbury, said that voting to get a 
public hearing, or even to move the bill out of committee, should not be 
construed as support.

"I think this is too important for just the committee to vote on, but the House 
and Senate should take it up, too," Godfrey said.

But Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, said he was voting no, "just as a protest."

After the committee meeting, Rep. Gerald M. Fox III, D-Stamford, co-chairman of 
the panel, said the vote was a rare occurrence. "They told me they were going 
to, so it wasn't a surprise, and we just move forward," said Fox, a proponent 
of the repeal who expects to vote for it again.

The committee unanimously voted to raise 42 concepts for drafting and public 
hearing, but the death penalty repeal -- the fourth item on the agenda -- 
resulted in a separate, 23-15 party-line vote with seven lawmakers absent.

"I think I know where it's going, but it says here in item 4, `death penalty,' 
is this for the abolishment of the death penalty, or is it to speed up the 
death penalty?" asked Rep. Al Adinolfi, R-Cheshire, during the brief committee 
debate. "This is not clear," said the lawmaker, in whose district occurred the 
July 2007 home invasion and murders of a mother and her two daughters. "I would 
like somebody to clear it up for me."

(source: Connecticut Post)