[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, IND., ARK., UTAH, WYO., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 20


OHIO:

Hottinger opposes anonymous lethal injection suppliers


State Rep. Jay Hottinger sent out a tweet Wednesday night that might have 
raised some eyebrows: "Instead of shielding identity of drug co's that make & 
supply drugs/supplies for lethal injections in death penalty - bring back 
firing squad," he wrote at 7:49 p.m.

Hottinger, a Republican, was responding to proposed Ohio House Bill 663, which 
would shield the identity of manufactures and sellers of drugs used in lethal 
injections. The bill was fast-tracked and approved Wednesday by a House 
committee. It likely will be voted on today and, if passed, will move on to the 
Ohio Senate.

Proponents of the bill argue it's the only way to keep Ohio's death penalty, 
Hottinger said: Without anonymity, drug manufacturers don't want to take part 
in the lethal injection process.

Hottinger, however, has a different view. He's in favor of the death penalty, 
but he doesn't think it should be a secretive process at all. If drug 
manufacturers aren't willing to be open about their involvement, there are 
other ways, he said.

Some have talked about bringing back the electric chair. A firing squad - 8 or 
so people, so no one knows who fired the lethal shot - is a legitimate option, 
he said.

Another representative even made the comment that "ropes are cheap," Hottinger 
said.

"That is not something I would probably be for, but again ... I think there are 
a number of ways that we can effectively and humanely implement the death 
penalty other than lethal injection," he said.

"You know, you're dealing with life-and-death situations. ... Something that 
significant, I believe, should have a lot of transparency."

Executions in Ohio have been on hold since death row inmate Dennis McGuire, who 
was put to death with the country's 1st use of a 2-drug combo, took 26 minutes 
to die in January, repeatedly gasping and snorting. The nearly 2-hour execution 
of an Arizona inmate in July with the same 2 drugs deepened concerns over their 
use.

Ohio's 1st choice - compounded, or specially mixed, pentobarbital - has been 
used successfully by Texas and Missouri, which won't say where the drug comes 
from, but Ohio has been unable to obtain it.

H.B. 663's sponsor, Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said the state prisons agency has 
said it can't obtain drugs without the promise of anonymity.

The agency "has represented to us that unless the anonymity clause is in place, 
they don't believe that vendors will be willing to supply the drugs, the 
products, or whatever," Huffman told the Associated Press. "And we take them at 
their word."

Companies would be shielded for at least 2 decades under H.B. 663, but in a 
last-minute change, they would have to ask to be granted anonymity rather than 
receiving it automatically.

The 20-year period would begin after the company stops providing drugs to the 
state, Huffman said.

Hottinger understands that one concern about the death penalty is the amount of 
time inmates are on death row. In his opinion, though, it's worth a bit more 
time to make sure Ohio has the right plan in place.

"I don't think a month or 2 or 6 longer is going to significantly set back 
Ohio's death penalty process," he said. "If the death penalty has to be delayed 
temporarily until we get this right, I would prefer (that)."

(source: Newark Advocate)

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

Ariz. attorney asks Trumbull judge to consider new trial for murderer Danny Lee 
Hill


An Arizona attorney has asked a Trumbull County judge to give a new trial to 
convicted murderer Danny Lee Hill of Warren on the grounds that bite evidence 
used at Hill's murder trial nearly 30 years ago has been discredited.

Hill was sent to death row in 1986 for killing 12-year-old Raymond Fife of 
Warren. Hill more recently challenged his death sentence by saying he was 
mentally retarded, but a visiting judge denied that claim.

Atty. Sarah R. Kostick of Tucson filed a motion last week with Judge Andrew 
Logan of Common Pleas Court seeking permission to ask for a new trial.

The county prosecutor's office says it will be filing a response to the request 
in the coming days.

Miriam Fife, mother of Raymond Fife and a victim-witness advocate for Trumbull 
County, expressed frustration that defendants and their attorneys are allowed 
to raise one issue after another to delay execution.

"It's just a stall tactic," Fife said.

Kostick said she previously worked as an "extern" for the federal public 
defender's office for Northern Ohio. That office tried 2 times but failed 
earlier this year to convince a federal judge to appoint the public defender's 
office to represent Hill in his request for a new trial. Kostick says she is 
representing Hill pro-bono, meaning for free.

In her filing, Kostick asked Judge Logan to seek a visiting judge to decide 
whether to consider a new trial.

Hill, 47, was convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to death in the 1985 
torture and mutilation killing of Raymond Fife in a wooded area off Palmyra 
Road Southwest. Hill was 18 at the time, and co-defendant Tim Combs was 17. As 
a juvenile, Combs was not eligible for the death penalty and got a life prison 
sentence.

Kostick wrote in her filing that Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins 
relied heavily during Hill's trial on testimony relating to bite marks on the 
genitals of Raymond Fife.

Some of the evidence came from Dr. Curtis Mertz, a forensic dentist, who 
compared the marks with dental impressions from the teeth of Hill and Combs and 
concluded that the marks had come from Hill.

But a federal public defender secured a report early in 2014 by Dr. Franklin 
Wright, a Cincinnati dentist who said the marks were not made by a human.

Kostick wrote that an effort to get a new trial for Hill began after the 
National Academies of Sciences in recent years "released a report determining 
that bite mark evidence is unreliable and cannot be validated scientifically."

The Ohio Attorney General's Office argued last spring that Hill's attorneys 
were overstating how important bite mark evidence was in Hill's conviction.

(source: Youngstown Vindicator)






INDIANA:

Sources: Judge sets aside Michael Dean Overstreet's death penalty


A St. Joseph Superior Court judge has ruled that convicted killer Michael Dean 
Overstreet is not competent to be executed.

Judge Jane Woodward Miller's office confirmed this morning that an order in the 
Overstreet case was prepared but would not be released to the public until 
later today.

Sources close to the case say Woodward Miller issued a stay that spares 
Overstreet from the death sentence.

The judge, sources said, agreed with Overstreet's lawyers, who in court 
documents argued he was delusional and has no "rational understanding" of why 
the state of Indiana plans to execute him.

The Indiana attorney general's office argued that Overstreet's mental problems 
should not exclude him from facing his just sentence.

Overstreet was sentenced to death in the 1997 murder and rape of Kelly Eckart, 
18.

Eckart, a Franklin College student, was driving to her Boggstown home after a 
shift at the Franklin Wal-Mart when prosecutors say Overstreet bumped into her 
vehicle and abducted her on a country road. DNA evidence linked Overstreet to 
the killing.

(source: Indianapolis Star)






ARKANSAS:

A 9-Year Standstill For Arkansas' Death Penalty


Rebecca Petty has a book where she keeps all her memories of her daughter, 
Andi. On May 15, 1999, Andi Brewer disappeared from her father's home in Mena, 
Arkansas.

After a 3 day, state wide search, police found the 12 year old's body in Polk 
County. Police took Karl Roberts into custody. He was Andi's uncle by marriage.

"There are really no words to describe the feelings I feel missing her 
everyday," said Petty.

A jury found Roberts guilty of Capital Murder in 2000. They sentenced him to 
death. Roberts waived his legal right to appeal that conviction. Then, less 
than 4 hours before his was set to be executed, Roberts changed his mind. Now, 
10 years later, Roberts is still on death row, pending further hearings.

"I've seen death row. I've seen what it looks like and that's no life," said 
Petty.

30 other inmates are on death row in The Natural State. Some have been there 
for nearly 25 years. According to Dina Tyler with the Arkansas Department of 
Correction, lawsuits are challenging the states execution policies.

"Right now, all we do is put them on death row and hold them there for safe 
keeping until the time the state is able to execute," said Tyler. "Those 
challenges have alleged the director of the department of correction has been 
given too much leeway, too much discretion, in the choice of the drugs used to 
carry out an execution."

Before 2005, the DOC used a combination of three lethal injection drugs known 
as the Texas cocktail. One of those drugs is now unavailable and replacements 
are wrapped up in more lawsuits. Ultimately, the state hasn't executed anyone 
since 2005. Tyler isn't sure what the future holds.

For Karl Roberts, prosecutors say he'll be back in a courtroom in Polk County 
in December for another hearing. Andi's family will be there too, hoping for 
justice.

"It's a chapter in a book that's just open, and it's not finished or complete 
for. For justice to be served, it needs to be served, one way or the other, 
there needs to be resolve and closure," said Petty.

And as a newly elected state representative, Petty says she will advocate for 
victim's rights and for families of those affected by crime, like herself. No 
matter what the outcome may be for Roberts, Petty just wants to close this 
chapter of Andi's life.

(source: ozarksfirst.com)



UTAH:

Death by firing squad could return to Utah


The firing squad could return as an option for death penalty sentences here in 
Utah.

A bill that would make it happen passed the law enforcement and criminal 
justice committee Wednesday.

The firing squad would be a secondary option when lethal injection drugs are 
not available.

Sponsor, Representative Paul Ray admits it very well could become a primary 
option given the recent problems with the drug cocktail and its lack 
availability.

He argues it's a more humane option anyway.

"Quite honestly they are dead before they hear the sound of the bullet. It's 
quick, it's efficient, it's a lot less painful than even lethal injection."

When the session begins in January, the bill will likely go back to committee 
before it hits the floor. But with Wednesday's vote, it will be an expedited 
path.

(source: good4utah.com)






WYOMING----death sentence overturned

Federal court overturns death penalty for Eaton----Federal judge's order 
overturning death penalty


A federal judge has overturned the death penalty for Dale Wayne Eaton, 
Wyoming's lone death row inmate.

U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson of Cheyenne on Thursday stated Wyoming has 
a choice of either granting a new sentencing proceeding for Eaton within 120 
days in Natrona County or keeping him locked up for life without parole.

The 69-year-old Eaton was sentenced to death in 2004 in state court for the 
1988 rape and murder of 18-year-old Lisa Marie Kimmell of Billings, Montana.

The Wyoming Supreme Court had upheld Eaton's death sentence.

Eaton's federal lawyers didn't dispute that he killed Kimmell. But they argued 
Eaton's state defense team had failed to present information to the jury about 
his tortured background to give jurors reason to consider sparing his life.

(source: Casper Star tribune)






USA:

The Penalty - executing justice in America ----a film by Laura Shacham


see: bit.ly/PenKick

(source: kickstarter.com)

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

Death-row deadlines a real killer


As the clock ticked closer to 12.01am on 29 October, the time scheduled for 
convicted murderer Mark Christeson's lethal injection, the US Supreme Court 
scurried to enact a stay of execution.

It had come to the court's attention that Christeson's lawyers had failed to 
meet an appeal deadline, putting their client's life on the line.

Not-for-profit news organisation The Marshall Project recently reported that 80 
similarly tardy lawyers have missed crucial deadlines to apply for a final 
appeal. Of these 80 condemned clients, 16 have paid the ultimate price for 
their lawyer's incompetence.

The last chance for an inmate on death row is a habeas corpus petition, an 
appeal to the federal court on the basis that their imprisonment violates 
federal law.

In 1996, President Bill Clinton placed a limit on death-penalty appeals by 
setting a 1-year filing deadline.

Given the complexity of habeas corpus appeals and the pressure on the lawyer to 
protect their client's life, one could understand how poorly-trained public aid 
lawyers might accidentally launch their petitions a few hours or days late.

But this was not the case; the average petition was 2 years and 4 months 
overdue. The record was set by a lawyer who submitted his client's habeas 
corpus claim 11 years too late.

The Marshall Project's investigation found that many of these court-appointed 
lawyers were plucked from the bottom of the barrel.

1 lawyer from Alabama was a methamphetamine addict and on probation for public 
intoxication; another, from Louisiana, was so debilitated by multiple disorders 
that he was unable to leave his office.

Yet another lawyer's drinking problem was so severe that he "damn near fell out 
of his chair", according to a complaint letter written by a client.

Folklaw was shocked to hear that while condemned men marched to their deaths, 
the lawyers in question receive little more than a slap on the wrist for their 
abysmal performance.

Federal court rulings have described the lawyers' misconduct as "inexcusable" 
and "deeply unprofessional" but, so far, only one lawyer has been sanctioned by 
a professional disciplinary body.

"It is hard for me to fathom how a lawyer who asked for and received the 
appointment of this Court, could abdicate the most basic function of filing the 
petition on time," wrote district court judge Timothy Corrigan.

"I would be remiss if I did not share my deep concern that in these cases our 
federal system of justice fell short in the very situation where the stakes 
could not be higher," he added.

(source: Lawyers Weekly)

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

US House approves resolution condemning Iran's executions and human rights 
abuses


The US House of Representatives has voted to approve legislation that will 
condemn the 'gross human rights violations' committed by the Iranian regime.

The resolution comes just days ahead of the November 24 deadline for world 
powers to reach a deal with the clerical regime.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce said: "I think it's incumbent 
upon all of us, as the House is doing, to stand with the people of Iran who 
suffer under this theocracy and speak out."

The House Resolution No.754 calls on Iran to abide by its international and 
domestic obligations on human rights and civil liberties, including freedoms of 
assembly, speech, and press.

It also deplores the steep rise in executions under Hassan Rouhani, and names 
Reyhaneh Jabbari, a woman hanged for killing a man she said she stabbed in 
self-defense during a sexual assault. It also condemns persecution of 
minorities, including Baha'is in Iran, and criticises the 'undemocratic' 
elections that deny Iranians the ability to choose their own government.

It also calls on Iran to release all political prisoners and prisoners of 
conscience and to allow the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human 
Rights Situation in Iran to visit that country.

(source: NCR-Iran)