[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., GA., FLA., ALA., OHIO, IND

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 11



PENNSYLVANIA----stay of impending execution

Fayette judge to delay Edwards' execution for 2002 murders


For the 2nd time, a man sentenced to die by lethal injection for killing a 
Fayette County couple and their pregnant teenage daughter more than a decade 
ago has received a reprieve from the courts.

During a brief hearing Wednesday, a judge told attorneys he will issue a 
temporary stay of execution for Mark Duane Edwards Jr., 32, who was scheduled 
to die Jan. 13 for his conviction in the triple homicide.

Fayette County President Judge John F. Wagner Jr. said he'll grant the delay so 
Edwards' attorney can continue to pursue an appeal of his client's conviction 
in the shooting and stabbing of Larry A. Bobish, 50; his wife, Joanna, 42; and 
their pregnant daughter, Krystal, 17, during a break-in and arson at the 
family's North Union mobile home April 14, 2002. The couple's then-12-year-old 
son, Larry Bobish, played dead and survived the attack, fleeing from the home 
when Edwards set it on fire.

Bobish, 25, recently told the Tribune-Review he has forgiven Edwards and does 
not want him to be executed. When reached by phone Wednesday, Bobish was aware 
of the stay and said he will seek to help the defense.

"He knows what he did," Bobish said, "but my goal is to see if I can help him 
in any way, to potentially get him life in prison as opposed to the death 
penalty."

During a 2004 trial, Edwards' defense attorneys contended he was mentally 
disabled and under the influence of drugs at the time of the killing, which 
prosecutors said occurred after Edwards stole several bottles of a drug called 
"wet" - PCP mixed with formaldehyde - from the elder Bobish several days 
earlier. When Bobish demanded payment for the drugs, Edwards decided to kill 
him, according to court records.

Gov. Tom Corbett signed Edwards' death warrant last month.

1 legal expert said the stay is indicative of an underfunded legal system in 
need of reform.

"Pennsylvania's death penalty is dysfunctional in 1 very profound way," said 
Marc Bookman, director of the Philadelphia-based Atlantic Center for Capital 
Representation.

"The state has consistently failed or refused to properly fund the defense at 
trial," Bookman said. "Consequently, capital trials take place with 
undertrained and under-resourced lawyers and mitigation specialists and 
experts, and those trials end up with many constitutional errors."

He said those errors lead to lengthy and costly appeal processes in which 
convicted criminals are sometimes successful in having their cases overturned.

Wagner set a Jan. 30 deadline for Assistant District Attorney Mark Mehalov to 
respond to the appeal, which has been pending since 2010.

A hearing on the appeal is not expected until spring. Mehalov told Wagner he 
needs at least 60 days to prepare a written legal brief, and Public Defender 
James Moreno said he has numerous witnesses to contact before the hearing. He 
told Wagner the hearing could take as long as 2 weeks.

A previous death warrant, signed in 2007, was stayed so Edwards could pursue 
federal appeals, which he lost.

Pennsylvania last carried out an execution in 1999.

Bookman said Pennsylvania allocates few resources to fund the defense in 
capital trials. "You can't decide to seek the death penalty but not fund it," 
Bookman said. "Either you decide not to seek it and be satisfied with life 
without the possibility of parole, or you decide to seek it and fund it. 
Ultimately, being penny wise and pound foolish just costs far more for the 
taxpayer, retraumatizes the victim's family and extends the process for many 
years."

(source: triblive.com)






GEORGIA:

Georgia inmate refused sedatives before lethal injection, officials say


Robert Wayne Holsey was executed in Georgia on Tuesday night for the 1997 
murder of a sheriff's deputy.

Holsey died at 10:51 p.m. after a lethal injection, Gwendolyn Hogan, 
spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Corrections, said.

Holsey refused sedatives offered before the execution, which is an option, 
Hogan said.

"They are to help relax," she said.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to block the execution of Holsey, making its 
ruling Tuesday afternoon.

Only Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor voted in favor of staying 
the execution.

Holsey's current lawyer argued his client had a mental disability and that his 
trial lawyer admitted to being an alcoholic who was drunk on vodka during 
proceedings.

Georgia requires that a mental disability be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. 
The state disputed that Holsey's IQ of 70 constituted a disability under the 
law.

Holsey apologized for his crime before his sentence was carried out, Hogan 
said.

Holsey's was the 2nd execution the court chose not to block Tuesday.

Paul Goodwin was executed in Missouri on Wednesday at 1:17 a.m. local time, 
according to Mike O'Connell, spokesman for the Missouri Department of 
Corrections.

Goodwin's attorney also argued that his client has a mental disability that 
should preclude him from the death penalty.

Goodwin was convicted of beating a woman to death with a hammer inside her home 
in 1998.

"Paul Goodwin invaded the home of Joan Crotts, a widow, and brutally killed 
her," Attorney General Chris Koster said in a statment following the execution. 
"While her family's feelings of loss will never end, at least they know her 
killer has paid the price for his actions."

(source: northwestgeorgianews.com)






FLORIDA:

Judge declines to remove Matt Shirk's office from 2nd death penalty case


For the 2nd time this month a Jacksonville judge has refused to allow the 
office of Public Defender Matt Shirk to withdraw from a death penalty case 
scheduled to go to trial in January.

Shirk's office asked Circuit Judge Mallory Cooper to allow them to withdraw 
from the death penalty case of Randall Deviney, saying they had a conflict 
between Deviney and another unnamed client they represent. On Wednesday Cooper 
denied that request and said Deviney's trial would begin Jan. 5.

Cooper previously declined to remove the Public Defender from the death penalty 
case of Donald James Smith. The office cited a similar conflict in that case 
but Cooper rejected that and his trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 20.

It's possible the conflict is between Deviney, 23, and Smith, 58, with one of 
the men claiming to have information on the other. In both cases the Public 
Defender has said there is a conflict between the named defendant and an 
unnamed second defendant, and that Cooper is the judge in both cases.

In both cases the Public Defender???s Office has said they cannot adequately 
represent one client without hurting another client. Public Defender spokesman 
Matt Bisbee has declined to comment on whether the cases are related.

Prosecutors have said they have no interest in talking to Deviney or Smith 
about any information they have on another case. Prosecutors have also said 
they have no interest in talking to anyone who has information about Deviney or 
Smith that the Public Defender represents.

In both rulings Cooper has said that no conflict exists because the state isn't 
interested in the information. The Public Defender is appealing Cooper's ruling 
in the Smith case to the 1st District Court of Appeal, and is likely to appeal 
her ruling in the Deviney case to the same court.

Bisbee declined to say whether Deviney's case would be appealed on Wednesday.

If the appellate court orders the Public Defender removed, both cases will be 
delayed for months, and possibly years, while new lawyers are appointed and 
familiarize themselves with the cases. Deviney and Smith have both been 
declared indigent, so the cases would either go to the Office of Regional 
Conflict Counsel or to a private lawyer who is paid for by the taxpayers.

Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda, who is prosecuting Deviney, 
expressed frustration at that possibility during a hearing last week.

De la Rionda said Deviney's case has already been delayed 5 times. He also said 
he believes Deviney is trying to commit fraud on the court by delaying his 
trial.

Deviney is facing the death penalty for slitting the throat of 65-year-old 
Dolores Futrell in August 2008. Deviney was convicted of the crime in 2010, 
when Cooper sentenced him to death after a jury recommended he be executed by a 
10-2 vote.

That conviction was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court in February 2013. 
Justices ruled that police should have stopped questioning Deviney after he 
repeatedly told them he was done speaking.

Police ignored those comments and kept questioning him, and Deviney eventually 
confessed to killing Futrell.

Smith is charged with rape and murder of 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle. He is 
a registered sex offender released from prison 3 weeks before Cherish was 
killed.

(soure: Florida Times-Union)






ALABAMA:

Hearing to decide if John DeBlase will be sentenced to death rescheduled


The sentencing hearing for John DeBlase, who is facing death after being 
convicted in November in the deaths of his children, has been reset for 2:30 
p.m. Jan. 8.

The hearing was scheduled to be held Thursday in Mobile County Circuit Judge 
Rick Stout's courtroom. It was rescheduled because DeBlase's presentence 
investigation report is not complete, District Attorney Ashley Rich said.

"Because... the judge has to take that report under consideration when he makes 
his sentence, we couldn't move forward with the sentence until that report is 
complete," Rich said. "It's not an uncommon thing that they have not had an 
opportunity (to finish the report), especially in a case of this magnitude."

A Mobile County jury convicted DeBlase, 31, of 3 counts of capital murder in 
the 2010 deaths of 4-year-old Natalie DeBlase and 3-year-old Chase DeBlase.

The jury voted 10-2 in favor of the death penalty. The vote is a recommendation 
to Stout, who will decide if DeBlase will be sentenced to death.

DeBlase's common law wife, Heather Leavell-Keaton, 26, also is charged in the 
children's death. Her trial is scheduled for next year.

The District Attorney's Office said the children were stuffed into a suitcase, 
put in a closet and choked to death. Natalie was dumped in a wooded area near 
Citronelle. Chase's body was hidden in rural Mississippi.

(source: al.com)






OHIO:

Lawmakers kill execution-drug provision that threatened sales of leading 
anesthetic


State lawmakers on Wednesday removed a controversial provision of a 
death-penalty reform bill after being told it could threaten all sales of a 
vital anesthetic drug to the entire United States.

The provision, proposed in House Bill 663, would have voided any contract that 
prohibits the sale of drugs to Ohio for use in executions. The measure was 
proposed in reaction to the European Union restricting the sale of drugs made 
in Europe that could be used for lethal injections.

But if the provision became law, that could lead the European Union to ban the 
export of anesthetic drugs that could be used in executions, said John Ducker, 
president and CEO of Illinois-based pharmaceutical company Fresenius Kabi USA.

In particular, Ducker warned, the EU could prohibit the export of propofol, the 
most commonly used general anesthetic in the United States. About 90 % of 
propofol is manufactured in Europe, he said.

Dr. Robert Small, representing the Ohio Society of Anesthesiologists, testified 
before the Senate Criminal Justice Committee that the bill could create 
"harmful shortages" of propofol.

"A shortage of this medicine could set us back 20 years," Small said.

The non-partisan Legislative Service Commission suggested last month that 
voiding agreements to ban drug sales may also violate the U.S. and Ohio 
constitutions' prohibition on impairing contracts.

Committee members voted without objection to delete the provision from the 
bill. They also added a number of uncontroversial reforms to Ohio's capital 
punishment system recommended by the Ohio Supreme Court's death penalty task 
force earlier this year.

House Bill 663 was introduced as a way to overcome problems that Ohio - like a 
number of other states - has had obtaining lethal-injection drugs. Other parts 
of the bill would grant 20 years of anonymity to small-scale drug manufacturers 
that prepare Ohio's lethal-injection drugs. Physicians who testify about the 
state's execution method also couldn't have their state medical licenses 
revoked.

Sen. John Eklund, a Geauga County Republican who chairs the Senate Criminal 
Justice Committee, said he expects the committee to vote Thursday on whether to 
send the bill to the Senate floor.

(source: cleveland.com)

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

Man indicted in death of 2012 of Barbara Howe


A man has been charged in the 2012 death of an 87-year-old woman whose body was 
found in the trunk of her Cadillac.

Daniel French, 56 was arrested Wednesday in Berea, Kentucky for the death of 
Monroe, Ohio resident Barbara Howe.

Police have charged French with aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, 
aggravated robbery, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. The murder 
charge comes with death penalty specifications.

"The shear brutality and diabolical nature of this case is unparalleled in the 
history of Butler County and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible 
under the law," Butler County prosecutor Michael Gmoser wrote in a release.

The indictment and subsequent arrest were part of a 2-year investigation into 
the death of Howe, who was found dead in November 2012. The car she was found 
inside was parked next to a children's playground by the Woodridge Park East 
Apartments in Middletown.

Investigators haven't released the cause of death.

A Butler County grand jury had looked at evidence and heard testimony over a 
three-month period before they returned an indictment against French, according 
to the release from the prosecutor's office. The prosecutor decided to seal the 
indictment until Wednesday so police could apprehend French without raising his 
suspicions.

In September 2013, the Monroe Police Department told WCPO they had a new person 
of interest in the case but it's not clear if French is that person.

For most of the past 2 years, police have said Howe's missing 3.31 carat oval 
cut diamond ring could be a vital clue in the investigation. While 
investigators wouldn't say whether they thought robbery was a motive in Howe's 
death, they said in February 2013 that discovering the whereabouts of the 
diamond could reveal solid clues in the case.

It's unclear if police believe French played a role in the disappearance of the 
ring.

French was being held in Berea until he can be extradited back to Ohio. It's 
not clear when that will happen. Gmoser wrote that he expects the suspect to be 
held without bond pending his trial.

Below is the press release from the Butler County Prosecutor's Office:

An Indictment has been returned by the Butler County Grand Jury against Daniel 
French, age 56, of Berea, Kentucky for Aggravated Murder with death penalty 
specifications, Aggravated Burglary, Aggravated Robbery, Tampering with 
Evidence and Abuse of A Corpse in connection with the death of Barbara Howe on 
or about October 28, 2102 in Monroe, Ohio. This indictment is the culmination 
of hundreds of dedicated man-hours by police detectives of Monroe, Ohio, and 
Middletown, Ohio, criminalists of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation under 
the authority of the Ohio Attorney General, the Butler County Coroner, the 
Butler County Prosecutor's Office and the dedicated service of the Butler 
County Grand Jury which tirelessly received evidence and testimony over a 3 
month period. The shear brutality and diabolical nature of this case is 
unparalleled in the history of Butler County and will be prosecuted to the 
fullest extent possible under the law. The indictment was filed under seal on 
December 10, 2014 to provide an opportunity to arrest Daniel French which has 
now been accomplished. He is presently being held by police authorities in 
Berea, Kentucky and is expected to be extradited to Ohio shortly where he is 
expected to be held without bond pending his trial. As in all cases with an 
indictment, he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

(source: WCPO news)

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

Rockcastle Co. man arrested in 2012 death of elderly Ohio woman


A Rockcastle County man has been arrested in the death of an elderly Ohio woman 
from 2012.

Kentucky State Police arrested Daniel French, 56, in Rockcastle County on 
Wednesday.

"Troopers arrived at the residence located on Flat Gap Road in Rockcastle 
County, located the suspect inside the home, and he was arrested without 
incident," said Trooper Lloyd Cochran, Kentucky State Police.

According to the Butler County prosecutor's office in Ohio, the indictment was 
issued Wednesday by the Butler County Grand Jury against French.

Police have charged French with aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, 
aggravated robbery, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse in connection 
with the 2012 death of Barbara Howe in Monroe Ohio. The murder charge comes 
with death penalty specifications.

"The shear brutality and diabolical nature of this case is unparalleled in the 
history of Butler County and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible 
under the law," Butler County prosecutor Michael Gmoser wrote in the release.

French is currently being held in the Rockcastle County Detention Center while 
he awaits extradition to Ohio. That hearing is set for Monday.

(source; WKYT news)






INDIANA:

Prosecutor Seeks Death Penalty In Cannibal Case


A prosecutor intends to seek the death penalty for a southern Indiana man who 
has confessed to fatally stabbing his girlfriend and mutilating her body, 
including cooking and eating some of her organs.

Clark County Prosecutor Steve Stewart filed his intent to seek the death 
penalty for Joseph Oberhansley in Clark Circuit Court on Friday, The 
(Louisville, Kentucky) Courier-Journal and the News and Tribune reported 
Tuesday.

33-year-old Oberhansley of Jeffersonville is charged with murder and abuse of a 
corpse in the stabbing death of 46-year-old Tammy Jo Blanton on Sept. 11.

During his initial hearing in days after his arrest, Oberhansley interrupted 
the proceeding by announcing his name was "Zeus Brown" and told the judge, "You 
have the wrong guy."

Attorney Mike McDaniel told the News and Tribune that he expects he will take 
over as Oberhansley's counsel if the death-penalty enhancement is permitted. 
McDaniel said Tuesday that he had a 90-minute meeting with Oberhansley earlier 
in the day and that they had a "calm discussion." He said it was too early to 
discuss any defense strategies he might pursue.

Oberhansley is being held in the Clark County Jail.

Authorities say Oberhansley was convicted of manslaughter in the 1998 shooting 
death of his then-girlfriend, 17-year-old Sabrina Elder, in suburban Salt Lake 
City just days after the birth of their son.

Utah discharged him from parole on July 23, and on July 31, Blanton posted $500 
bond for him on charges of criminal recklessness and resisting law enforcement 
stemming from a car chase.

(source: WBIW news)

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

Refining our approach to murder charges


Effective and appropriate punishment is an evolving standard.

Murder is the most serious crime the authorities have to deal with, so it is 
always appropriate for the state to be open to evolving standards and new 
approaches. Indiana is being forced into that kind of introspection by 2 tough 
cases in the court system.

In the case of Michael Dean Overstreet, convicted of raping and murdering 
Franklin College student Kelly Eckart in 1997, Indiana Attorney Greg Zoeller 
has announced he will not appeal a judge's decision that the man is too 
incompetent to be executed.

In the case of Blake Layman, Lei Sparks and Anthony Sharp, the Indiana Supreme 
Court has decided to hear their appeal of felony murder convictions. The 
Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld their convictions but ordered their 
sentences reduced to 45 years.

Both cases test the limits of how harsh the state's punishment should be.

The judge in Overstreet's case accepted the contention of his attorneys that, 
because of the nature of his paranoid schizophrenia, he was unable to 
understand what was happening to him. He believes he is already dead or in a 
coma, and id the state executes him he will be reunited with his loved ones.

Zoeller's decision not to appeal is based on a pragmatic assessment that the 
judge's decision "is likely to be considered reasonable" and "not overturned."

So Overstreet will remain on death row but won't be executed unless his mental 
condition improves, in essence serving a life sentence without parole. That is 
the kind of accommodation ordered by courts for children and the mentally 
retarded on the grounds they don't understand their crimes, so it is at least 
consistent to treat the severely mentally ill the same way.

Layman, Sparks and Sharp didn't actually kill anybody. But their accomplice, 
Danzelle Johnson, was shot and killed by a homeowner when they burglarized a 
house they thought was empty. That brings into play the state's felony murder 
provision defining deaths that occur during the commission of certain crimes as 
homicides.

At one time, such a provision did not seem harsh, since so many of the 
underlying crimes carried the death penalty anyway. But these days, many people 
do think it too harsh, especially when it is a co-conspirator who is killed 
rather than an intended victim of the crime. Most states with felony murder 
laws make that distinction.

Effective and appropriate punishment is, we should never forget, an evolving 
standard.

(source: Editorial, News-Sentinel)