[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TENN., MO., NEB.

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 3



TENNESSEE----stay of impending execution

Ed Zagorski of Tennessee Granted Stay of Execution


Edmund "Ed" George Zagorski was scheduled to be executed at 7:10 pm CST, on 
Tuesday, December 9, 2014, at the Riverbed Maximum Security Institute in 
Nashville, Tennessee. 59-year-old Ed is convicted of murdering John Dale Dotson 
and Jimmy Porter on April 23, 1983, in Robertson County, Tennessee. Ed has 
spent the past 30 years on Tennessee's death row.

Ed was granted a stay of execution by the Tennessee Supreme Court. The stay of 
execution was granted to allow time for a lawsuit against the state's execution 
protocol to be resolved. Ed, along with several other death row inmates, are 
challenging the constitutionality of Tennessee's execution protocol.

Ed was born in Michigan and grew up in a very poor family. Ed never completed 
high school and had a learning disability. He had trained to become a boat 
captain.

Ed Zagorski first met John Dotson at a trout farm in Bucksnort, Tennessee on 
April 5, 1983. Zagorski claimed to be a mercenary from Central America. 
Zagorski agreed to supply John with a large marijuana purchase, 100 pounds for 
$23,000. Zagorski told John that the marijuana would be dropped by airplane on 
April 21, 1983.

Zagorski informed John when the marijuana had arrived and the two arranged to 
meet at Spot, Tennessee, on April 23, 1983, around 6 pm. John and his friend 
Jimmy Porter met at a tavern with the money before going to meet Zagorski. The 
tavern operator saw the money in the bag, along with a pistol. They left in 
Jimmy's red truck and were never seen alive again.

Around 5:30 pm, the owner of the trout farm and his girlfriend heard gunshots 
from the area they knew Zagorski had gone to meet John and Jimmy. Gunshots were 
not an unusual occurrence because of deer hunting.

On May 6, 1983, the badly decomposing bodies of John and Jimmy were discovered 
in a wooded area. Both men had been shot and had their throats cut. Near the 
bodies, a cartridge was discovered that was later identified to have been fired 
from Zagorski's HK 91 semi-automatic rifle. Other items belonging to, or 
identical to items Zagorski possessed were also discovered. Although time of 
death could not be determined for John and Jimmy, it was determined that the 
gunshot ultimately killed them and that they had been drinking prior to their 
deaths.

In late April, Zagorski arrived at a friend's home in Ohio and had in his 
possession several items that had belonged to John and Jimmy, including Jimmy's 
truck. He also had a large amount of cash.

On May 26, 1983, Zagorski was arrested in Ohio after a shoot-out with police. 
During the shoot-out, Zagorski shot a special deputy 5 times. After his arrest, 
he gave several versions of what happened between himself and John and Jimmy. 
Zagorski was sentenced to death on March 27, 1984.

Please pray for peace and healing for the families of John and Jimmy. Please 
pray for strength for the family of Ed Zagorski. Please pray that Ed will come 
to find peace through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, if he has not 
already.

(source: The Forgiveness Foundation)






MISSOURI----impending execution

USA: Missouri execution set for human rights day: Paul Goodwin


UA: 302/14 Index: AMR 51/057/2014 USA Date: 3 December 2014

URGENT ACTION MISSOURI EXECUTION SET FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DAY Paul Goodwin is 
scheduled to be executed in Missouri on 10 December, Human Rights Day. His 
lawyers are seeking clemency on the grounds of intellectual disability and 
mental incompetency to be executed. This would be the 10th execution of the 
year in Missouri, the most there in any year since 1899. Paul Goodwin, now aged 
48, was tried in 1999 for the murder of Joan Croatts, aged 63, in St Louis 
County on 1 March 1998. At the trial, 2 psychologists and a psychiatrist 
variously testified that Paul Goodwin operated in the borderline range of 
intellectual functioning, that he had major depression, a personality disorder, 
and learning disorders, and that at the time of the crime he had not been 
responsible for his conduct or at least that his capacity to conform his 
conduct to the requirements of the law had been substantially impaired. 
However, the jury rejected the defence of not guilty by reason of mental 
disease or defect, and at the sentencing phase voted to recommend the death 
penalty, which the judge imposed on 2 December 1999.

In 2002, in Atkins v. Virginia, the US Supreme Court ruled that the use of the 
death penalty against those with "mental retardation" (now usually known as 
"intellectual disability") was unconstitutional. Lawyers for Paul Goodwin 
brought a claim under Atkins, and included for the first time a specific 
testing of his intellectual disability by an expert in this field. In 2006, the 
Missouri Supreme Court ruled 4 to 3 to uphold a lower court judge's dismissal 
of this claim. The Chief Justice and the 2 other judges who dissented argued 
that although there was evidence from the trial record that Paul Goodwin did 
not have intellectual disability, "there was also enough evidence [from this 
new specific assessment] that he was retarded". They noted that the educational 
psychologist retained by the appeal lawyers, who specialized in "mental 
retardation and death penalty issues", and whose research was cited in the 
Atkins ruling, had concluded that Paul Goodwin "is within the mild range of 
mental retardation, probably smack in the middle of it". They argued that the 
lower court judge had been wrong to discount this evidence and that Paul 
Goodwin should receive a new sentencing where this evidence of intellectual 
disability could be put before a jury.

Based on their experts' opinions, Paul Goodwin's lawyers are seeking clemency 
on the grounds that his intellectual disability, combined with other mental 
deficits, render him incompetent for execution under US law, that is, lacking a 
genuine understanding of the reason for and reality of his punishment.

Please write immediately in English or your own language: Calling on the 
governor to prevent this execution and to commute Paul Goodwin's death 
sentence; Noting the evidence of his intellectual disability, and that the 
power of executive clemency is not restricted in the way that courts may be 
when assessing whether an execution should be stopped; Expressing concern at 
Missouri's continuing use of the death penalty; Acknowledging the seriousness 
of the crime in this case and the suffering caused.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 10 DECEMBER 2014 TO: Office of Governor Jay Nixon 
P.O. Box 720, Jefferson City, MO 65102, USA Fax: +1 573 751 1495 Email: via 
website http://governor.mo.gov/contact/ Salutation: Dear Governor

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. 
Please insert local diplomatic addresses below: Name Address 1 Address 2 
Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation Please check 
with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

URGENT ACTION MISSOURI EXECUTION SET FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DAY ADDITIONAL 
INFORMATION The execution of Paul Goodwin is scheduled to take place at one 
minute past midnight on 10 December 2014. The UN General Assembly proclaimed 10 
December as Human Rights Day in 1950, to bring to the attention "of the peoples 
of the world" the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 3 of which 
states that everyone has the right to life and article 5 that no one shall be 
subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or 
punishment. It was a US national, Eleanor Roosevelt, who chaired the UN 
committee which drafted the Universal Declaration, and it was she who had 
suggested that reference to the death penalty be removed from it because there 
were moves in various countries to abolish capital punishment. In an article 
published in 1953, five years after adoption of the Declaration, Eleanor 
Roosevelt wrote: "It has always seemed to me that capital punishment, the 
taking of human life by other human beings after a judgment passed by human 
beings, was quite wrong. We know that often human justice, no matter how hard 
we try to make it the wisest possible judgment, may be faulty".

The US Supreme Court's 2002 prohibition of the execution of persons with 
intellectual disability ??? Atkins v. Virginia - left to states "the task of 
developing appropriate ways to enforce the constitutional restriction???. 
Although the Court had pointed to clinical definitions of "mental retardation" 
as a disability, manifested before the age of 18, characterized by 
significantly sub-average intellectual functioning and with limitations in 2 or 
more adaptive skill areas, its failure to be more prescriptive has contributed 
to less than full protection. On 27 May 2014, in Hall v. Florida, the US 
Supreme Court revisited the Atkins ruling for the 1st time and struck down a 
Florida law requiring that a defendant claiming to have intellectual disability 
show an IQ score of 70 or below. "Intellectual disability is a condition, not a 
number", the Supreme Court ruled; "Courts must recognize, as does the medical 
community, that the IQ test is imprecise". It found that Florida's rigid IQ of 
70 cut-off, which blocked the presentation of evidence other than IQ that would 
demonstrate limitations in the defendant's mental faculties, was itself 
unconstitutional.

Paul Goodwin's lawyers have sought to get back into the courts to argue that 
the Hall ruling impacts the Missouri Supreme Court's analysis of Goodwin's 
intellectual disability claim. They have re-stated the evidence of this 
disability, including Paul Goodwin's childhood problems, his struggles in 
school, and his problems in employment and daily functioning, together with the 
assessment done by Dr Denis Keyes, the expert retained by the defence for 
post-conviction proceedings who concluded that Paul Goodwin has intellectual 
disability. In a petition filed in US District Court on 1 December, they argue 
that "Missouri, like Florida, disregarded an IQ test score that, when 
considered with the standard error of measurement, placed Goodwin in the 
sub-average intelligence range, and refused to consider testimony regarding 
Goodwin's adaptive deficits".

There have been 1,392 executions in the USA, 79 of them in Missouri, since the 
US Supreme Court upheld new capital laws in 1976. There have been 33 executions 
in the USA this year, with 9 of them in Missouri, equalling the number it 
carried out in 1999, its highest total since 1976. The last time there were 10 
executions in 1 year in Missouri was in 1899.

Today 140 countries are abolitionist in law or practice. 4 US states have 
abolished the death penalty in the past 5 years - New Mexico (2009), Illinois 
(2011), Connecticut (2012) and Maryland (2013), and another 2 states - Oregon 
and Washington State - currently have governor-imposed moratoriums on 
executions. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases 
unconditionally, regardless of the crime, the culpability of the offender, or 
the method used to kill the prisoner.

Name: Paul Goodwin Gender m/f: m

UA: 302/14 Index: AMR 51/057/2014 Issue Date: 3 December 2014

(source: Amnesty International)






NEBRASKA:

Nebraska's defense of execution drug keeps process "in limbo"----5 years after 
passing a law replacing the state's electric chair Nebraska has been unable to 
proceed with an execution by lethal injection.


The decision by the Nebraska Department of Corrections and Gov. Dave Heineman 
not to revise the state's execution protocol put the system "in limbo" 
according to the attorney once responsible for defending the state's capital 
punishment cases.

Kirk Brown served in the Nebraska Attorney General's office as solicitor 
general for nearly 10 years He told NET News the state can't ask for an 
execution warrant from the Nebraska Supreme Court "because we have to assure 
the court that we are prepared to carry out a warrant if we receive one." Brown 
says without an identified and reliable supply of the drugs required or a 
change in the state's execution protocol it would be impossible to request an 
execution date.

Brown says as it stands now "it's even hard to contemplate what time frame will 
be involved because we aren't going to even start running that clock until we 
are in a position to ask the Supreme Court for a death warrant."

The comments came in Brown's 1st interview since retiring in May 2014 as a 
member of the attorney general's staff. Attorney General Jon Bruning replaced 
Brown as Solicitor General in 2012 and named him senior assistant attorney 
general. Responsibility for death penalty litigation was assigned to others in 
the office.

There are 11 men on death row in Nebraska. There has not been an execution in 
the state since 1997. Robert Williams was the last person to die in the state's 
electric chair. It was replaced with lethal injection after the Nebraska 
Supreme Court ruled electrocution was "cruel and unusual punishment" forbidden 
in the state's Constitution.

Since lethal injection was approved in 2009 executions have been on hold 
because of legal challenges, and problems getting and keeping 1 of the 
essential drugs.

"The State of Nebraska, as I understand it, is in limbo," said Brown.

LETHAL INJECTION TIMELINE

2009----May 28----Gov. Heineman signs bill replacing electric chair with lethal 
injection

2010----January 24----Last U.S. maker of sodium thiopental will no longer sell 
for executions.

----February 10----Gov. Heineman approves lethal-injection protocol.

2011----January 7----Corrections officials obtain sodium thiopental from India.

----January 21----Corrections announces "prepared to carry out...executions."

----April 21----Nebraska Supreme Court sets execution date for Carey Dean 
Moore.

----April----DEA informs Corrections it did not have a license to legally 
import drug.

----May 25----Moore execution postponed. Nebraska Supreme Court reviews drug 
source.

----June 29----Nebraska obtains proper drug import license from DEA.

----October 25----Nebraska acquires fresh supply of sodium thiopental.

----November 3----Attorney general asks for an execution date for Michael Ryan.

----November 3----Ryan asks Supreme Court to remove attorney general from case.

----December 21----Nebraska Supreme Court denies Ryan request on AG removal.

----2012----January 11----Nebraska Supreme Court issues execution warrant for 
Michael Ryan.

----February 22----Nebraska Supreme Court orders Richardson County district 
judge review drug supply concerns raised by Ryan.

----March 2----Richardson County district judge rejects concerns about drug 
acquisition.

----August----First batch of sodium thiopental expires.

----2013----October 2----Nebraska Supreme Court hears Ryan's challenge to 
lethal injection drug.

----October 4----AG Bruning states Nebraska needs a new lethal injection 
protocol.

----December 2013----Lethal injection drugs expires. State unable to carry out 
executions.

----2014----April 18----Nebraska Supreme Court denies Ryan's requests to delay 
execution.

While problems getting the required drugs have been well documented, Brown 
maintains it was decisions made by Gov. Dave Heineman and the Department of 
Corrections which put the process on hold for the past several years.

"Options that would have allowed potentially the process to move forward were 
not taken," Brown said.

While the state legislature passed the law making lethal injection the state's 
approved method of execution, creating a protocol specifying the process is the 
responsibility of the director of the Department of Corrections with the 
approval of the governor. That protocol was approved by Gov. Heineman in 2010.

Nebraska's lethal injection protocol begins with a 3 gram dose of sodium 
thiopental, a medication used to induce a medical coma. 2 more drugs are 
administered to paralyze the body and stop the heart.

Sodium thiopental became increasingly difficult to obtain when major 
pharmaceutical companies decided to no longer sell the drug for use in 
executions.

With no American supplier available, Nebraska prison officials imported a batch 
though a source in India. Lawyers for convicted cult killer Michael Ryan, on 
death row since 1986, raised objections to the process Nebraska used to obtain 
the drugs. After 3 years of legal wrangling, the Nebraska Supreme Court 
rejected Ryan's arguments.

The high court's ruling came after the state's supply of sodium thiopental had 
expired. The acquired drugs could no longer be used legally. The attorney 
general was prepared to request an execution date for Ryan but Nebraska was 
again without the sodium thiopental specified in the protocol.

Nebraska is the only state requiring three specific drugs in its execution 
protocol. Five states using other methods carried out executions in 2014.

Bruning says despite the state having the option to change the Department of 
Corrections procedures a decision was made to stick with its defense of sodium 
thiopental in the courts. Asked if simply changing the execution protocol in 
advance of the Ryan case could have kept the issue out of court Bruning said 
"that is true."

"Hindsight is 20-20," Bruning said. "I wish we had redone the protocol."

Bruning said he advised the governor he could avoid a lengthy legal battle by 
rewriting the rules. He also said he understands the any governor has "more 
priorities than just the death penalty."

"I certainly wouldn't criticize the idea that we didn't try and change the 
protocol," Bruning said. "I didn't disagree with him."

The Governor's Office did not respond to requests for comment.

Brown said key decisions made which have delayed executions since 2010 "would 
primarily rest with the executive branch." He said when he held the position of 
solicitor general he advised the Governor's Office that changing the protocol 
could avoid court challenges on this issue. By going to court to defend the use 
of sodium thiopental the Department of Corrections elected to "engage in a 
process of litigation that we knew would take years" according to Brown.

"If a different set of choices been made at that time, we would have, in my 
judgment, within certainly 6 months to a year, been in a position to carry out 
an execution," Brown said.

Meanwhile death penalty opponents believe the years of delays have only 
strengthened support for ending the practice in the state.

"In every way this policy has fallen apart," said Stacy Anderson of Nebraskans 
for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

"Nebraskans are smart reasonable people," Anderson said. "They look at the fact 
that we haven't executed in almost 2 decades now and we don't look any closer 
to being able to execute, and they say 'you know, we can probably live without 
this.'"

She said proceeding with executions becomes less of a priority for everyone 
involved the longer the state delays carrying out a state-sanctioned death.

Anderson argued the urgency to use the death penalty diminishes inside and 
outside of the prison system "when these people are safely removed from society 
and they aren't a threat to us anymore." She added even within the troubled 
Department of Corrections the priority to advance an execution "goes down 
pretty significantly" the longer the process stalls.

Attorney General Bruning agrees the delays "probably does" undermine support 
for capital punishment in Nebraska.

"The argument the other side makes that it's such a hassle that we should just 
do away it," Bruning said. "Every year we are unable to carry out an execution 
it certainly adds credence to that argument."

The death penalty cases will be the responsibility of a new set of elected 
officials starting in January.

The state legislature reconvenes with 18 new members. There will be a fresh 
attempt made to replace the death penalty with life without parole.

Governor-elect Pete Ricketts noted his support for the death penalty throughout 
his campaign. A number of people familiar with Corrections issues told NET News 
repairing damage done by the current criminal sentencing scandal will take a 
much higher priority than revising the execution protocol.

Doug Peterson, the newly elected attorney general, told NET News he does "think 
it's important to move forward with the death penalty if we have that process."

Describing death penalty cases as "the most solemn part of the attorney 
general's job" Peterson said "we have it on our books so we want to make sure 
we do it in this most appropriate way possible." Among his concerns is assuring 
the process used in Nebraska does not result in the type of long and, some 
claimed, painful lethal injection deaths prompting reviews of the drugs and 
procedures used in Ohio and Oklahoma.

A Corrections spokesperson would not confirm if the state has a source for 
sodium thiopental. Without a known source former solicitor general Brown says 
Nebraska cannot move forward with executions.

"We aren't going to even start running that clock until we are in a position to 
ask the Supreme Court for a death warrant," Brown said. "We certainly can't ask 
for an execution warrant at this point and time because we have to assure the 
court that we are prepared to carry out a warrant if we receive one. It is my 
understanding at this point and time, we are not."

(source: KVON News)