[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., OHIO, ARIZ., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 4



TEXAS:

Eric Williams Found Guilty in Murder of DA's Wife


A former North Texas public official is facing a death sentence after being 
convicted of capital murder Thursday in a revenge plot against a local district 
attorney, his wife and a top assistant.

Jurors found Eric Williams guilty Thursday of the murder of Cynthia McLelland, 
the wife of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland. Williams has been 
charged with the deaths of both McLellands and prosecutor Mark Hasse. The trial 
on the wife's death was the 1st of 3 cases being heard separately.

Williams is a former justice of the peace who lost his job and law license 
after McLelland and Hasse prosecuted him for stealing three computer monitors 
from a county government building. He now faces the death penalty in Cynthia's 
slaying. Sentencing is expected to begin at 8:45 a.m. Monday.

The state and defense both rested their cases Wednesday after prosecutors 
presented strong evidence against Williams for three consecutive days. The 
defense cross examined some state witnesses but called no defense witnesses and 
Williams declined the right to speak in his own defense.

After the verdict defense attorneys said they would call witnesses and present 
evidence during the sentencing phase of the trial. Earlier in the morning the 
defense asked for the mistrial after the names of jurors were published on the 
Internet; that request was denied and closing arguments began soon after.

During closing remarks, former Dallas Assistant District Attorney Toby Shook 
opened for the state and said the McLellands were murdered after the defendant 
broke into their home as "a ruthless killing machine" and opened fire on the 
couple, shooting them multiple times.

Shook said the defendant, before leaving the McLelland's home, shot Cynthia in 
the head to be sure she was dead.

The prosecution added that there was evidence the murders were premeditated and 
that Williams and a storage room reserved under a pseudonym, had bought a car 
under a fake name and that he went to the McLelland's home wearing a sheriff's 
emblem on his vest.

William's defense lawyer, Matt Seymour, said there is no proof that Williams is 
the killer, there is no proof that he was at the McLelland's home and that 
their client is innocent. He added that there is reasonable doubt and that the 
facts presented do not prove the prosecution's case.

Williams' wife, Kim, has been indicted for capital murder, though her attorney 
has said she is cooperating with prosecutors. She is accused of having driven 
the getaway vehicle after Hasse's killing.

"It's a fantasy. It's a guess. There's no proof of it," defense attorney 
Matthew Seymour said in closing arguments.

Bill Wirskye, one of the special prosecutors appointed to the case, told jurors 
during opening statements that they had an "airtight case" before them.

(source: bigcountryhomepage.com)






FLORIDA:

Donald Smith to retain public defender


A Jacksonville judge refused the public defender's request to withdraw from the 
death penalty case of a man accused of raping and murdering 8-year-old Cherish 
Perrywinkle.

Circuit Judge Mallory Cooper on Wednesday rejected Public Defender Matt Shirk's 
concerns of a conflict in the case of 58-year-old Donald James Smith.

The judge's ruling says Shirk raised conflict concerns after Smith made 
statements to another inmate represented by his office.

Smith, a sex offender, is accused of killing Perrywinkle on June 21, 2013, 
after luring her family to a Wal-Mart with promises to buy food and clothing.

Smith took Perrywinkle to a fast-food restaurant inside the store; her body was 
found the next day.

The case is scheduled to start Jan. 20. Smith is charged with 1st-degree 
murder, kidnapping and sexual battery.

(source: Associated Press)






OHIO:

Execution drug secrecy bill has unintended consequences, opponents testify


Opponents of proposed legislation hiding the source of execution drugs warned 
lawmakers today about wide-ranging unintended consequences, including 
disruptions in health care and violations of federal interstate commerce law.

Few of the criticisms concerned opposition to the death penalty, which resumed 
in Ohio in 1999.

Ohio Public Defender Tim Young said House Bill 663 "is likely to cause 
long-term, far-reaching consequences."

Young said the secrecy proposal, already approved by the Ohio House and now 
being heard in the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, resulted in extensive 
litigation when it was enacted in other states. He said the bill could disrupt 
health care because it would void some contracts between drug manufacturers and 
customers. It would also prevent licensing agencies from disciplining medical 
professionals who participate in the execution process.

Young said the bill "sacrifices so much of what we all know about good 
government: openness, transparency, accountability, oversight, and limits on 
governmental intrusion into contracts, private businesses, and the medical 
profession."

Prison officials informed Attorney General Mike DeWine that they cannot proceed 
with executions scheduled next year and beyond unless they can obtain 
sufficient supplies of lethal-injection drugs. Since most major drug makers 
refuse to sell drugs for executions, the state plans to tap small, "compounding 
pharmacies" which prepare specific drugs at customer request. However, 
compounding pharmacies, which are not federally regulated, want to remain 
anonymous to avoid public protests.

HB663, the resulting proposal, would shield drug supplier identity, but would 
do much more, critics argue.

Dennis Hetzel, executive director of the Ohio Newspaper Association, said it 
would "spawn new, time-consuming litigation," and "unquestionably will make it 
harder for citizens to hold government accountable for its actions."

Kevin Smith, representing the Society of Professional Journalists, said it is 
"one of the most over-reaching in terms of secrecy that we have encountered in 
a long time."

Jim Tobin, spokesman for the Catholic Conference of Ohio, said it represents 
"an increasing effort to get around the moral, religious and proprietary 
objections of drug manufacturers who do not want their drugs or their drug 
formulas used in executions."

There was no testimony from supporters of the bill. Hearings are expected to 
continue next week.

(source: Columbus Dispatch)






ARIZONA:

Cost to Arizona taxpayers for Jodi Arias' defense tops $2.7 million, expected 
to keep rising


The cost to Arizona taxpayers for Jodi Arias' defense now tops $2.7 million, 
and the figure will keep rising as her penalty phase retrial continues in a 
Phoenix courtroom.

Maricopa County spokeswoman Cari Gerchick released Thursday the amount billed 
so far by Arias' 2 court-appointed attorneys after she was unable to pay for 
her own defense. The figure is up more than $200,000 from the one released in 
late September.

Prosecutors have declined to provide their costs to try the case.

Arias was convicted of murder last year in the 2008 killing of ex-boyfriend 
Travis Alexander but jurors were unable to agree on a sentence.

A new jury is hearing testimony on whether to grant prosecutors' request for 
the death penalty. Otherwise, Arias will face life in prison.

(source: Fox News)






USA:

Death penalty challenge pending in carjack deaths----Massachusetts abolished 
its state penalty in 1984


Lawyers for a man who confessed to carjacking and killing 2 men in 
Massachusetts and killing a 3rd man in New Hampshire argued Wednesday that the 
federal government should not force the death penalty on Massachusetts, a state 
that has rejected capital punishment.

A lawyer for a man facing a new federal death penalty sentencing trial in the 
killings of 2 Massachusetts men says his client is in "precarious" health.

Gary Lee Sampson was sentenced to death in 2003 by a federal jury in Boston for 
the 2 carjack killings, but that sentence was overturned 8 years later by U.S. 
District Judge Mark Wolf, who found that a juror's lies about her background 
deprived Sampson of his right to an impartial jury.

A 2nd sentencing trial is set for February.

Sampson's lawyers have filed a series of motions challenging the 
constitutionality of the federal death penalty.

Massachusetts abolished its state penalty in 1984; Sampson was prosecuted under 
a federal statute.

Wolf heard arguments on several motions Wednesday, but did not immediately 
rule. The hearing was scheduled to continue Thursday.

Sampson, a drifter who grew up in Abington, pleaded guilty in the 2001 killings 
of Jonathan Rizzo, 19, a college student from Kingston, and Philip McCloskey, 
69, a retiree from Taunton. He confessed to carjacking the men, then stabbing 
them to death after assuring each of them that he only planned to steal their 
cars.

Sampson was convicted separately in state court in New Hampshire in the killing 
of Robert "Eli" Whitney during the same weeklong crime spree.

Sampson's lawyer, Danalynn Recer, argued Wednesday that the federal government 
should withdraw its notice that it intends to seek the death penalty against 
Sampson because it violates "evolving standards of decency in the community."

"The community has rejected it and decided that it's not going to have the 
death penalty," Recer said.

But Michael Warbel, a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice, said 
the federal government has the legal authority to seek the death penalty in 
states that have rejected state capital punishment.

Warbel said the argument that Massachusetts residents have rejected the death 
penalty is "refuted by the verdict in this case." He also cited a Boston Globe 
poll in July in which 62 % of respondents supported U.S. Attorney General Eric 
Holder's decision to seek the death penalty against Boston Marathon bombing 
suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Tsarnaev's trial is scheduled to begin next month in 
U.S. District Court in Boston.

(source: WCVB news)