[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KY., COLO., ARIZ., CALIF., USA
Rick Halperin
rhalperi at smu.edu
Thu Dec 11 13:59:33 CST 2014
Dec. 11
KENTUCKY:
How Kentucky Handle Dealth Penalty Cases For Mentally Ill Inmates
A nationwide debate on the execution of mentally ill death row prisoners
erupted across the country after a federal appeals court last week granted a
last-minute stay of execution to convicted murderer and diagnosed schizophrenic
Scott Panetti in Texas.
Could a similar situation happen in Kentucky? The answer is: It almost did -
and still could, said Kentucky lawmakers and death penalty experts.
Kentucky law forbids the execution of prisoners with mental retardation, but in
2010 it took another last-minute stay of execution - this one from Franklin
Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd - to spare the life of Gregory L. Wilson, a
death row inmate with a measured IQ of 62.
"In Kentucky right now, if a client has an IQ of roughly 70 or below and the
defense says, 'My client is mentally disabled and suffers from retardation,'
they have a hearing," explained Father Pat Delahanty, a longtime advocate for
the abolition of the death penalty in Kentucky.
The question is then left to the judge to determine if that's the case - if it
is, the death penalty is removed as a sentencing option, Delahanty said.
If Wilson's IQ is well below the maximum, why is he still on death row? Because
he waited too long to sue.
IQ scores are among several factors used to diagnose intellectual disability,
though and a majority of clinicians agree that IQ scores for the intellectually
disabled may range up to 75. For any convict in the low to mid 70s, the death
penalty is still an option in Kentucky and Virginia - the only states still
using the score as a legal barometer.
When Shepherd halted Wilson's execution in 2010, he raised concerns about how
the state handles intellectually disabled and mentally ill inmates, saying "It
seems to me that this regulation could be followed to the letter and someone
who is mentally retarded could still be executed."
How the Decision is Made
Delahanty said convicts who aren't intellectually disabled but have a severe
mental illnesses - such as hallucinatory schizophrenia, dementia, or traumatic
brain injury, for example???are not protected from execution in Kentucky, and
they make up roughly 10 % of all inmates.
Lawmakers have been cautioned in recent years that Kentucky execution laws may
prove a liability to the state, including a 2011 study by the American Bar
Association which urged the state to suspend all executions until its process
is clarified.
In more than 500 pages, the study illuminates a variety of blind spots in the
state's execution process. It finds that judges, attorneys and law enforcement
officers widely lack training on dealing with mentally ill defendants. The
study also calls on the courts to ensure mental health professionals who
testify on behalf of defendants are qualified, pointing out instances of
incompetency.
In 1 instance, a federal court "reversed an inmate's death sentence... based on
the defense's repeated use of a mental health expert whose testimony was
'bizarre and eccentric,'" the report said. "It was subsequently determined that
the testifying expert ... had actually only finished 2 years of college as an
English major."
Kentucky is also one of the few states that permit judges to rule a defendant
"Guilty But Mentally Ill." While there haven't been any executions of those
convicts, there's nothing on the books preventing it.
Mark Coppenger of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has been outspoken
in his support of the death penalty in Kentucky. He regularly testifies before
panels of Kentucky lawmakers.
"I would even say that if someone is so amoral that they can't even frame a
sense of evil of the thing, I would not let them off on that," said Coppenger.
"I would say: so much the more. If someone is just pathologically indifferent
to morals, that ... is not so much insanity as it's just sheer evil."
Coppenger said mentally ill inmates on death row should bear the burden of
proof, and that the standards amounting to proof of mental disability should be
more rigorous.
Burden of Proof
Proving intellectual disability became a problem for Wilson when a Kenton
Circuit judge denied his request for mental evaluation. It could also be a
problem for other inmates in the future who attempt to prove their mental
condition, as the Kentucky Department of Corrections currently does not have a
protocol requiring them to determine whether an inmate is intellectually
disabled or mentally ill prior to execution.
The KDC is required to administer a pregnancy test before execution, but not an
IQ test.
When inmates are able to prove their disability,prosecutors often accuse
inmates of intentionally fudging the results, the American Bar Association
said, citing six separate instances in Kentucky.
"Mentally retarded offenders may be sentenced to death when courts deny the
existence of mental retardation without an IQ test score of 70 or below," reads
the report. "And then discount or reject such IQ scores when they are
provided."
State Rep. Denver Butler, a Louisville Democrat, is a former Louisville Metro
Police sergeant who used to work homicide cases His work on cold-case files led
to the exoneration of 2 inmates, but he said he still sees a place for the
death penalty in Kentucky.
"But what I think we should do and what I try to get across is that we should
put a stay on it until we can have a better process," he said.
"I think the process really needs to be looked at. Who are we we trying to
apply the death penalty to? What are the standards? And make sure all of those
are being vetted appropriately."
Several bills to protect mentally ill inmates from execution have been offered
in the Kentucky General Assembly in recent years, although no legislation has
yet passed.
Suspended
Wilson's case led to more than his own delayed death: Judge Shepherd suspended
all executions in Kentucky after realizing the inability of the state to
determine an inmate's intellectual disability. He then ordered the state to use
a single-drug method for lethal injection, a follow-up on the Kentucky Supreme
Court ruling which deemed the state's 3-drug lethal injection cocktail cruel
and unusual.
Since the drug's manufacturer stopped producing the single-drug alternative and
Kentucky handed over its final 3 doses to the DEA, the state has been without
the legal means to execute inmates.
But attempts to resume executions have already begun. In 2013, Attorney General
Jack Conway filed notice with the Franklin Circuit Court that Kentucky was
ready to get back to executing prisoners. He proposed the use of a single-drug
solution of sodium thiopental or pentobarbital (whichever is on hand).
Since both of those are in short supply nationwide, Conway offered that
executions could be conducted via a 2-drug combination of midazolam and
hydromorphone - the same combination administered in January to an Ohio inmate
who gasped and snorted for 26 minutes before finally dying.
In July, Judge Shepherd put the brakes on Conway's request to resume executions
with the 2-drug mix, then eliminated the method altogether in mid-November,
obligating the state to rework its execution methods entirely.
It's not clear what options Kentucky will explore next, though Gov. Bill Haslan
in May made Tennessee the 1st state to bring back the electric chair,
authorizing its use in the event the state couldn't get the lethal injection
drugs.
'It's Kind of a Catch-22'
State Sen. Gerald Neal said these hair-splitting questions on the specifics of
state executions only serve to illustrate a broader point: Because the justice
system is imperfect, the state should abolish the death penalty.
"Once you start defending or setting up a system for handling mentally ill
defendants, you actually begin to undermine the larger argument of whether we
should have a death penalty," said Neal. "But if you don't deal with that
argument, are you not violating or withholding on your moral obligation to
address whatever current problems you can? It's kind of a catch 22."
Neal noted that the American Law Institute, the organization responsible for
clarifying what a constitutionally sound execution process would look like over
the last 50 years, pronounced their work a failure in 2010.
"The fundamental question is: Why do we have a death penalty in a civilized
society?" said Neal. "Is it compatible?"
Neal, a Louisville Democrat, has filed a bill for consideration in 2015 which
would create a task force to study the costs of the death penalty. It'd be the
1st study of its kind for Kentucky.
The bill will start its trek through the state legislature when the new session
begins on Jan. 6.
(source: WKMS news)
****************************
Kentucky man accused of killing family could face death penalty
Ryan Champion, the Kentucky man accused of killing his family and another man
in Trigg County, could face the death penalty.
On Wednesday, Commonwealth Attorney G.L. Ovey filed a notice of aggravating
circumstances outlining the intentional killings of Lindsey, Joy and Emily
Champion as well as kidnapping while committing murder.
Ovey says the Commonwealth plans to use the notice to seek the death penalty.
Also in court, Champion entered a not guilty plea and introduced his new
attorney.
His next court appearance is scheduled for February 13th.
(source: WPSD news)
********************
Death penalty in play in Champion case
Public defenders were in the middle of setting up another court date for a man
charged with complicity to murder in the Oct. 26 shooting deaths of 2 of his
family members and murder in the death their alleged killer when a new attorney
came into play.
"I'm untimely in terms of arrival but timely in terms of consideration," Ryan
Champion's new attorney, Tom Osborne, told Trigg Circuit Judge C. A. "Woody"
Woodall shortly after the beginning of Wednesday's proceeding.
(source: kentuckynewera.com)
COLORADO:
Judge in Colorado movie theater massacre case refuses to delay trial again
A judge overseeing the Colorado movie theater massacre case said on Wednesday
he will not delay the trial of gunman James Holmes again, rejecting a request
by the defense for more time to study the results of a 2nd court-ordered sanity
exam.
Jury selection in the trial of Holmes, 26, is due to start next month, and
Arapahoe County District Court Judge Carlos Samour has previously told lawyers
for both sides to be ready to present their opening statements in late May or
early June.
Holmes is charged with multiple counts of 1st-degree murder and attempted
murder for opening fire inside a Denver-area theater in July 2012 at a midnight
screening of the Batman film, "The Dark Knight Rises," killing 12 and wounding
dozens.
His lawyers concede he was the sole gunman, but argue that the former
neuroscience graduate student was suffering from a psychotic episode at the
time. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if he is
convicted.
Defense lawyers asked last week for the trial to be delayed to give them more
time to study the results of Holmes' second sanity exam, which they said run to
nearly 5,000 pages of documents and more than 20 hours of video.
On Monday, they told the judge their team had also been hit by 2 medical
emergencies.
The prosecution had opposed any further delay to the trial.
In his ruling on Wednesday, Samour said the defense will have had ample time to
study the results of the 2nd exam by the time trial begins, and he said they
had failed to identify specific materials their experts were unable to view.
"If such vague allegations were sufficient, every criminal defendant could be
entitled to a postponement of his trial," the judge wrote.
Holmes' trial has already been delayed several times, mostly because of the 2
mental examinations the California native was ordered to undergo after invoking
the insanity defense.
While Samour said he sympathized with the defense and the "tragic events" of
their medical emergencies, he said that likewise they were not grounds to delay
a case that has been pending for 2 1/2 years.
The judge also said a majority of victims polled oppose any further holdups.
"Simply put, it is time for this case to proceed to trial," Samour wrote.
(source: Reuters)
ARIZONA:
Third Juror Dismissed From Death Penalty Trial After Getting Arrested
More details have emerged about the latest juror to be dismissed from the Jodi
Arias sentencing retrial.
Last Tuesday, Judge Sherry Stephens announced at the end of a long afternoon
break that Juror No. 3 was dismissed from the retrial without giving an
explanation. It turns out that the juror, who has been identified as Melissa
Lenette Garcia, was kicked off the case due to a recent arrest.
According to RadarOnline.com, the 36-year-old woman was arrested on Black
Friday and charged with issuing a bad check, making her the 3rd juror to get
the boot from the high profile murder trial.
In October, one of the 12 original jurors was let go due to an ongoing family
emergency on the 1st day of the retrial. The next day, a 2nd juror was removed
for talking to a reporter that she thought was HLN talk show host Nancy Grace.
The incident took place on Oct. 22 during a morning break as Beth Karas, a
former on-camera reporter and commentator for HLN, was being interviewed by 12
News about the case. After her interview was over, Juror No. 9 asked Karas if
she was Nancy Grace, a nationally renowned television personality and a vocal
opponent to Arias, reports AZ Central. In response, Karas told her that she
used to work with Grace and then reported the incident to the court.
Juror No. 9 was then immediately dropped from the case and Maricopa County
Judge Sherry Stephens reiterated to the remaining jurors that they are
prohibited from discussing the case, watching TV, consuming news media and
using social media, reports USA Today.
Altogether 12 jurors and 6 alternates were selected from a pool of hundreds of
people earlier this month. However, there will be a mistrial if there are less
than 12 jurors to serve on the panel.
Jodi Arias, 34, was convicted of the 1st-degree murder of her ex-boyfriend
Travis Alexander in May 2013. According to medical examiners, Arias stabbed him
27 times, primarily in the back, torso and heart in his Phoenix home in 2008.
She also slit Alexander's throat from ear to ear, nearly decapitating him, and
shot him in the face before she dragged his bloodied corpse to the shower.
Although she was found guilty in the case, the jurors failed to reach a
unanimous decision on her sentencing. As a result, the retrial will determine
whether she should be sentenced to death, life in prison or life with a chance
of release after serving 25 years.
(source: Latin Post)
***************
2016 trial date set in girl's slaying
A judge on Wednesday set a trial date for a Bullhead City man accused of
strangling an 8-year-old girl to death in September.
The day after holding a status hearing, Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen set a
trial date of Oct. 17, 2016, for Justin James Rector. The judge also set a
pre-trial hearing for Aug. 23, 2016, and Rector's next hearing for Jan. 28. At
that January hearing, a 2nd defense attorney will provide Jantzen with their
qualifications to act as co-counsel. A 2nd attorney is required in a death
penalty case.
State statutes require a trial date be set 24 months after a prosecutor files a
notice to seek the death penalty. Deputy Mohave County Attorney Greg McPhillips
recently filed a notice to seek the death penalty against Rector, the only
capital case in Mohave County.
Jantzen set the trial date early so McPhillips and Rector's attorney, Harry
Moore, have time to schedule witness interviews, disclose evidence and
exhibitions, file motions and agree on jury instructions.
The judge also ordered Rector to undergo an IQ competency evaluation to
determine his sanity at the time of the alleged crime, which is required in a
death penalty case. A pre-screening mental health exam has determined that
Rector is competent to stand trial.
Rector, 26, is charged with 1st-degree murder, kidnapping, child abuse and
abandonment of a dead body for the murder of Isabella Grogan-Cannella. Rector
allegedly murdered Grogan-Cannella shortly after midnight on Sept. 2 and left
her partially naked body buried in a shallow grave near her Lakeside Drive
home.
At Tuesday's hearing Jantzen allowed the autopsy report to be made public but
refused to allow graphic autopsy photos to be released. The medical examiner
ruled her death was from asphyxia due to strangulation.
(source; Mohave Daily News)
CALIFORNIA:
Death penalty to be sought against illegal alien accused of killing deputies
After talking with the families of 2 deputies slain in October, Sacramento and
Placer county prosecutors announced Tuesday that they will seek the death
penalty against Luis Enrique Monroy Bracamontes, the 34-year-old Mexican
national suspected of killing the lawmen during a daylong rampage on Oct. 24
that spread from Sacramento to Auburn.
The announcement came in Sacramento Superior Court, where Bracamontes and his
wife, 38-year-old Janelle Marquez Monroy, made brief court appearances and had
their next hearing set for Feb. 4.
Prosecutors did not seek the extend the death penalty to Monroy, who is charged
with murder in the death of Placer County Detective Michael Davis but not in
the slaying of Sacramento County Deputy Daniel Oliver.
Bracamontes is charged with killing both deputies, as well as the attempted
murders of motorist Anthony Holmes during a botched carjacking attempt, and the
attempted murders of three other Placer County deputies.
Another attempted murder count was added in an amended criminal complaint filed
Tuesday that charges Bracamontes with trying to kill Oliver's partner,
Sacramento County Deputy Scott Brown, during the shootout at an Arden area
Motel 6 where the crime spree began.
The criminal complaint lists 5 special circumstances against Bracamontes, which
allows prosecutors to seek the death penalty, but none against Monroy.
The couple is being prosecuted jointly by the Sacramento and Placer district
attorneys' offices, and prosecutors issued a statement saying they had decided
to seek the death penalty for Bracamontes after reviewing the evidence
separately.
"Input from the victims' families was solicited, received, and considered
during the decision making process," said the statement, which Placer County
Assistant District Attorney Dave Tellman repeated in court. "Both offices
independently concluded that the death penalty is the appropriate penalty in
this instance."
Tellman added that before making the decision prosecutors "sought input from
the defense team" and had agreed to allow Bracamontes' lawyers to "submit a
package of materials to us for reconsideration of that decision."
"Collectively, we agreed to that procedure," the prosecutors said in their
statement.
Bracamontes, who listened to the proceedings through a Spanish interpreter
while standing inside a cell in the courtroom, did not appear to react visibly
to the decision, and Public Defender Jeff Barbour said after court that it was
too early to comment on prosecutors' decision.
"We're still in the process of getting volumes of information," Barbour said.
"We haven't had a chance to review it thoroughly. That's why we continued this
to February. Because of that, we're not putting out any comment at this time."
Bracamontes' wife, who was brought into the courtroom cell after Bracamontes,
also did not speak, although at the end she turned to the back of the courtroom
and smiled broadly and waved at her parents, who declined to speak to reporters
afterward.
Judge Helena Gweon did not allow the media to photograph the faces of either
suspect, despite the fact that the case has generated international attention
and photos of them have been made widely available.
The crime spree has gained notoriety because of its ruthless nature and because
it came during a national debate on immigration reform. Bracamontes, who lived
in the Salt Lake City area, has entered the United States illegally repeatedly
and has a history that includes at least four arrests in Arizona on drug and
weapons charges. Federal officials say Bracamontes, who used numerous aliases,
had been deported at least twice but continued to enter the country illegally.
Both are being held without bail: Bracamontes is in custody at the El Dorado
County Jail, while his wife is in the Yolo County Jail.
(source: Associated Press)
USA:
Ask The Ethicist: Capital Punishment And The Mentally Ill
Texas inmate Scott Panetti was sentenced to die for shooting and killing 2
people. Last week, the state's Attorney General's office granted a stay due to
Panetti's documented mental illness.
Scott Louis Panetti is a death row inmate in a Texas prison. Last week, a judge
granted a stay of execution because Panetti - who once represented himself in a
trial, and called Jesus Christ and the Pope as witnesses - has a history of
mental illness.
Panetti was convicted of killing Joe and Amanda Alvarado. Under Texas law, he
was sentenced to die by lethal injection. The court determined Panetti's
schizophrenia to be no impediment in terms of mental acumen. Last Wednesday,
Panetti's attorney Gregory Wiercioch successfully petitioned to reverse the
decision - citing the Eighth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual
punishment - and the execution order was suspended.
Medical ethicist Art Caplan called Panetti not only mentally ill but "floridly
schizophrenic." "It makes no sense to execute a person like that. I'm not even
sure he can fully appreciate the fact that he's being executed," Caplan said
Wednesday on Boston Public Radio.
"It doesn't make any sense to me," Caplan said, adding that there are only two
reasons to seek the death penalty. "One of them is to deter crime, [and] I
don't think this guy would've been deterred. (...) The other is retribution:
you deserve it. You did something hard, you should lose your life for it."
Caplan said that without either rationale, the death penalty shouldn't be used.
Caplan raised an equally-vexing question for prison medical staff and doctors.
"There are people in prison who clearly are mentally ill and who have done
awful things. And the question becomes, Should we give them drugs to restore
them to at least some level of sanity, and then execute them?" Caplan said that
technically, given the proper amounts of medication, those prisoners could be
diagnosed "fit to be executed." The power, Caplan said, lay in the
psychiatrist's hands.
Caplan noted that prisons have higher levels of mental illness than the
population. Some of that population may be better served in a minimum-security
facility, or in a mental health treatment center. "A lot of [prisoners] have
just brain disorders, and while we certainly don't want them running around
getting guns, (...) I think we're going to start moving over to the mental
illness model with [hospitalization]. I think the punishment model is going to
start to fade as the brain science gets better."
(source: WGBH news)
********************
There is justice for all in America, unless ...
A federal appeals court has halted Texas' execution of convicted killer Scott
Panetti. While allegedly suffering from religious delusions, he murdered his
wife???s parents.
The appeals court considered Panetti's history of mental illness. The Supreme
Court ruled nearly 30 years ago mentally incompetent persons could not be
executed, because that would be cruel and unusual punishment prohibited under
the 8th Amendment.
In addition to insanity, courts have ruled that convicted murderers can be too
young or have too low an IQ to receive the death penalty.
A person can commit horrific crimes, claim innocence due to insanity, and
eventually rejoin society as a free person. Last month, convicted murderer
Theodore Leleaux - who murdered a co-worker, cut out his heart and put it in
his jacket - was paroled by a California judge who decided Leleaux was
rehabilitated. Leleaux claimed he suffered a psychotic delusion when he
committed the murder. But he is alright now? Really? If Charles Manson is
alright now, should he be released?
If Panetti is too crazy to execute, then maybe his murder conviction should be
overturned. Then, he could be retried, found innocent by reason of insanity,
and if he could convince some judge he was no longer insane, he could be a free
man. So, one can be crazy enough to commit murder, but too crazy to be fully
punished for it.
Panetti's defense is that he suffered from psychotic religious delusions - the
devil made him do it. It can be argued all religious beliefs are delusions,
therefore any religious person committing a crime could be innocent by reason
of insanity. So, all those Islamic State barbarians butchering people in the
name of God could be innocent.
It challenges both the notions of logic and justice that some people committing
murder are evil and deserve punishment, while others are mentally ill and
deserve therapy. If the latter are innocent and not evil, then there is no
guilty party. Murder is just an unfortunate accident. That can be difficult for
the victims' loved ones to accept.
While some murders are committed out of mercy, as when someone kills a loved
one who is suffering a painful terminal illness and wants to die, most murders
are either cold-blooded or acts of rage. Why are they not acts of insanity? All
such murderers are crazy, so why is it OK to execute any of them?
However, who is nuts and who is not isn't the most critical issue in deciding
justice for murder, the death penalty is. While the courts are deliberating
over whether a murderer is sane, or who is too young or not smart enough to
execute, or what method of execution is constitutional, the larger problem is
the instances of failed justice that result in wrongful convictions.
Unless justice can be absolutely infallible, all cops and prosecutors honest,
and all juries impartial, the death penalty is not appropriate. With police
executing people on the streets with impunity, and with the federal government
using drones to assassinate American citizens, we sure don't need more
state-sanctioned executions by a fallible, sometimes-corrupt, judicial system.
Widespread police thuggery, an emerging police state that spies on and bullies
the public, twisted justice that punishes victimless drug users while it
ignores fraudulent bankers who victimize millions of people have all made
American justice suspect, putting trust in the judicial system in jeopardy.
Justice in America is the best money can buy, and for that reason and others it
is not always impartial, honest or fair. It is certainly not infallible.
Allowing such a system to put people to death is not only barbaric. it is a
lethal threat to every citizen.
(source: Opinion, Randy Alcorn----Lompoc record)
************************
As exonerations continue, so do executions
In Buffalo, another likely exoneration:
Josue Ortiz is on the cusp of freedom.
District Attorney Frank A. Sedita, one of the few remaining obstacles to
Ortiz's release from prison, is dropping his opposition, paving the way for
Ortiz to be freed, possibly as early as this week.
Ortiz, a West Side man now in Attica Correctional Facility, is believed to have
been wrongfully convicted in Erie County Court of the double murder that sent
him to jail 10 years ago.
"Simply stated, I cannot, in good conscience, permit a man to remain in jail
when I have a reasonable doubt concerning his guilt," Sedita said in a letter
Monday.
The letter to Erie County Judge Thomas P. Franczyk is expected to accelerate
the process for Ortiz's release.
Sedita pointed to a number of reasons why he is dropping his opposition to
Ortiz's release, most notably an alleged confession to the murders by Efrain
"Cheko" Hidalgo.
And in Ohio, another one:
A judge Tuesday cleared Ronnie Bridgeman of a murder that he didn't commit. The
false allegation, however, cost him 28 years in prison.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Pamela Barker tossed out the 1975 conviction
against the 57-year-old man who now goes by the name Kwame Ajamu. He was
released from prison in 2003. Barker's decision comes just weeks after judges
threw out the cases against his brother, Wiley, and Ricky Jackson.
"My battle has come to an end," he told Barker.
Then, he detailed what 28 years behind bars did to him.
"We were robbed," Ajamu said. "There will be no offspring when I die. When my
brother passes away, that is it. We don't have children. There will never be
another Ronnie Bridgeman. The important part is that we have been united while
we are standing forward and upward and that we are not looking at each other in
the graveyard."
Meanwhile, an Illinois appeals court reversed two murder convictions in 2 days
this week. You might think that the ongoing stream of exonerations, findings of
police and prosecutor misconduct, and overturned convictions might cause some
public officials to think twice about irreversible executions. That's true in
some places. But not in Georgia.
Robert Wayne Holsey died by lethal injection Tuesday night for the killing of a
Baldwin County deputy in 1995.
He was executed at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison near
Jackson.
In his last moments, Holsey addressed the father of Deputy Will Robinson, who
witnessed the execution. Holsey said: "Mr. Robinson, I'm sorry for taking your
son's life that night. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me and
my family." That account comes from our reporter Randall Savage, who was among
a handful of reporters who were also witnesses.
There was no doubt about Holsey's guilt, although he was represented by an
attorney who had a quart-a-day vodka habit, including during the trial, and was
later disbarred for stealing from his clients.
Last year, I wrote about the state of the death penalty in Florida. That state
leads the country in death row exonerations. That fact only motivated the state
legislature to speed up executions. I guess that's one way to cut down on
exonerations - just kill them before they can prove their innocence. Missouri
has also seen a spate of exonerations, including several overturned convictions
won by Kenny Hulshof, a former prosecutor (and congressman) often specifically
used by the state's attorneys general because of his reputation for winning
death verdicts. But Missouri isn't going to let a few close calls keep business
away from the death chamber.
Early Wednesday morning, Missouri set a record for its number of executions in
a year.
Paul Goodwin was the 10th man executed, more than any other year since the
death penalty was reinstated in the state.
Goodwin was put to death for sexually assaulting Joan Crotts, a 63-year old
widow, and then killing her with a hammer.
In denying clemency, Gov. Jay Nixon referred to the crime as "brutal" and
"senseless."
You might say the same thing about executing a man who is mentally deficient.
Goodwin's attorneys had argued that their client wasn't fit to be executed due
to his mental deficits, legally referred to as mental retardation or an
intellectual disability.
The most recent assessment by a psychologist found Goodwin was
"borderline-intellectually disabled" with an IQ of 73. Another assessment found
Goodwin had the mental understanding of a 13 year old.
"The one absolute certainty for this examiner over the 12 years I have been
involved with this case is that Paul Terrence Goodwin is now, and probably
always has been, mentally retarded,??? Denis Keyes wrote in concluding his
examination.
"As such, if the state of Missouri proceeds with his judicial execution, then
it is the devout opinion of this expert of 40 years experience in mental
retardation, the state is doing so against the findings of both state and
federal law, the Supreme Court and the Constitution of the United States of
America," Keyes wrote.
The good news is that just a small percentage of counties sentence and carry
out the vast majority of death penalty cases in America. The bad news is that
those counties are incredibly proficient. And there seems to be a strong
correlation between those counties and the types of police and prosecutor
misconduct that lead to wrongful convictions.
(soruce: Radley Balko, Washington Post)
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