[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----S.C., OHIO, ARIZ., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 21


SOUTH CAROLINA:

Woman admits plotting husband's death to get insurance money


A woman who claimed to be sleeping when her husband was shot and killed by an 
intruder has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and murder in his death.

Deputies were called to a Devon Court home at 3:45 a.m. Jan. 27 and found Shane 
A. Williams, 38, shot to death inside the home.

Investigators said Williams' wife, Crystal Williams, had let Marcus Johnson 
into the house. She then woke up her husband, and told him he needed to put 
more wood on the fire. When Shane Williams walked into the living room, Johnson 
fired a gun 5 times, hitting Williams 3 times, police said.

The Williamses were married for 14 years and had a 10-year-old son, who was in 
the home at the time his father was shot and killed.

Sheriff Rick Clark said text messages between Crystal Williams and Johnson led 
to their arrests. He said Williams and Johnson knew each other since they were 
children, but there was no indication of a romantic relationship.

Clark said the murder was arranged to gain $250,000 in life insurance to be 
shared by Williams and Johnson.

Williams faces up to 5 years in prison for conspiracy and life without parole 
for murder. She has 10 days to appeal the plea.

Shane Williams' father, Michael, addressed the judge and said, "He was a 
dedicated son, brother, father, husband and friend to many. God was first in 
Shane's life. He served as a Sunday school teacher, a deacon and he also sung 
in the choir. He was a hard worker and had a giving spirit. He was also an avid 
deer hunter.

"In the season of 2013, he carried his 10-year-old son on his 1st deer hunting 
trips that season and he killed 2 bucks. This deer season just hasn't been the 
same and Glenn will never get the same experience again. Everyday we'll remind 
him of the lives he touched -- his kindness and his love. His life was cut 
short due to an act of senseless, evil greed. His loss has left a void in our 
community, family and even his workplace. That we can never replace, your 
Honor."

The only words Williams spoke in court were, "I'm sorry."

Solicitor Walt Wilkins said Johnson was offered the same opportunity of a 
negotiated plea of life without parole, but he did not take it. On Friday, 
Wilkins served Johnson with notice that he will be seeking the death penalty.

Wilkins said this will be the 1st time he will seek the death penalty in his 
tenure as Pickens County solicitor.

Wilkins said, "The state had offered both defendants the same deal. If you want 
to avoid the death penalty, you can plead to a negotiated sentence of life 
without the possibility of parole. Ms. Williams decided to take that deal and 
plead guilty today and received that sentence. The co-defendant did not, so he 
was served with a notice of the state's intent to seek the death penalty and 
that's where we are in this stage of the litigation."

Since the plea deal has expired and the notice has been served, Johnson can't 
change his mind.

Wilkins said, "We just hope the family has some solace today and some 
resolution that Crystal Williams has accepted responsibility for her act. I 
think they can sleep a little better tonight, but unfortunately we still got a 
co-defendant that we're going to continue to prosecute."

Johnson has admitted to being the shooter, according to Wilkins

Wilkins said, "There's a young boy involved in this who lost his father and now 
his mother is going to be spending the rest of her life in jail. So he's the 
real loser in all of this."

(source: WYFF news)






OHIO:

Ohio Men Wrongly Convicted of Murder After 39 Years Released


2 Ohio men wrongly accused of murder four decades ago are walking free Friday 
morning after spending 39 years behind bars. A Cleveland judge on Wednesday had 
dropped all charges against Ricky Jackson, 57, and Wiley Bridgeman, 60, 
allowing for the pair's release. The Ohio Innocence Project, which took up the 
case, said Jackson had been the longest-held U.S. prisoner to be exonerated. 
Jackson was 19 when he was convicted along with Bridgeman and Bridgeman's 
brother, Ronnie, in the 1975 shooting death and robbery of Harold Franks, a 
Cleveland-area money order salesman. Testimony from a 13-year-old helped point 
to Jackson as the triggerman and led a jury to convict all 3. But that witness, 
now 53, recanted his testimony last year, saying he was coerced by detectives, 
according to court documents.

A story published in Scene Magazine in 2011 first raised new questions about 
the murder and whether Jackson and the Bridgeman brothers actually committed 
the crime. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said in court Tuesday 
that without an eyewitness there was not much of a case. "The state is 
conceding the obvious," he said, according to Reuters.

Ronnie Bridgeman, now known as Kwame Ajamu, was paroled from prison in 2003. 
Jackson was originally sentenced to death but that sentence was vacated because 
of a paperwork error. The Bridgeman brothers remained on death row until Ohio 
declared the death penalty unconstitutional in 1978. "One of them came within 
20 days of execution before Ohio ruled the death penalty unconstitutional" said 
Mark Godsey, director of the Ohio Innocence Project.

(source: NBC news)




ARIZONA:

Jodi Arias Trial Update News 2014: Message From Travis Alexander Calling Arias 
a 'Whore,' 'Evil' Presented in Death Penalty Retrial


During day 12 of the Jody Arias death penalty retrial, the jury heard more 
testimony about explicit email and text message exchanges between Arias and her 
former boyfriend, Travis Alexander, before he was murdered.

Earlier this week, defense witness Dr. Miccio Fonseca, a clinical psychologist 
who specializes in twisted sexual behavior, testified about Alexander's inner 
conflict between his religious conviction and sexual desires. While on the 
stand, Fonseca stated that Alexander had a mastery of deception and a "Dr. 
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" personality. She also alluded that he communicated having 
sexual desires about minors, reports ABC 15 Arizona. As a result, her testimony 
served to build the defense's argument that Alexander was a sexual deviant who 
emotionally abused Arias.

On Thursday, Fonseca returned to the stand, testifying that Alexander degraded 
the convicted killer and made her feel like a prostitute. She also spent time 
reading parts of a long instant-message exchange between Alexander and Arias 
where he called her a "whore" and a "solid form of evil," reports AZ Central.

However, sparks flew in the courtroom when state prosecutor Juan Martinez 
stepped up to cross-examine the psychologist. Martinez used two documents to 
point out similarities and differences in her testimony. He also handed her a 
document of an interview with Arias' brother, Carl, whom Fonseca confused with 
her father, Bill.

"You seem to be having problems with your memory," Martinez said during his 
cross-questioning.

According to court watcher Jen Wood, the cross-examination "was really intense 
and really heated."

"Dr. Fonseca really challenged Martinez, saying, 'You're mischaracterizing 
everything I say, for every question he asked her,'" she said according to 
KPHO.

Debate over deleted pornography from Alexander's computer also continued on 
Thursday as Arias' lawyers filed a response motion to the prosecutor's counter 
claims made earlier this week, reports USA Today.

In May 2013, Arias, 34, was convicted of brutally murdering Alexander, 30, 
inside of his Phoenix, Arizona, home in June 2008. According to medical 
examiners, Arias stabbed him 27 times, primarily in the back, torso and heart. 
She also slit his throat from ear to ear, nearly decapitating him and shot him 
in the face.

Although Arias was found guilty of 1st-degree murder charges, the jury failed 
to reach a unanimous decision on her sentencing. As a result, the jury in her 
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)






USA:

America brings back FIRING SQUADS as European firms refuse to supply lethal 
injection drugs


Firing squads could return in America to execute death-row prisoners - because 
EU firms are refusing to supply lethal injections.

Manufacturers in Europe oppose capital punishment and will not sell the drugs 
to the US.

And after a string of botched executions with jabs around the country, Utah 
approved a bid to bring back firing squads.

The proposal will see teams of shooters brought in if lethal injection drugs 
are not available 30 days before the scheduled execution.

The move was prompted after several botched executions in other states using 
experimental lethal injection cocktails.

Republican Paul Ray, who proposed the move, said it was the most humane way to 
execute someone because the inmate dies instantly. "We have to have an option," 
he added.

"If we go hanging, if we go to the guillotine, or we go to the firing squad, 
electric chair, you're still going to have the same circus atmosphere behind 
it.

"So is it really going to matter?

"The European company that makes this [drug cocktail] is refusing to sell to 
the United States because they're opposed to the death penalty.

"Using a firing squad is absolutely one of the most humane ways to execute 
someone because it's so quick and, quite honestly, one of the most painless 
ways."

He added: "I'm sure there's some initial pain to it but you don't see the 
struggling and the trying to breathe you see on any type of lethal injection.

"Even on the ones that are the lethal drug cocktail, you still see the gurgling 
and the fighting to breathe."

In July convicted double killer Joseph Wood took almost 2 hours to die after 
being administered a lethal injection.

For more than an hour he writhed in agony while strapped to the gurney as his 
lawyers watched his "gasping and snorting" as he die.

So concerned by his state of distress his attorneys applied for an emergency 
stay of execution as he lay on the bed at the state prison in Florence, 
Arizona.

3 months earlier murderer and rapist Clayton Lockett convulsed, clenched his 
teeth and struggled to talk during the 43 minutes it took him to die as the 
state tried out a new 3-drug lethal cocktail.

After a 20-minute discussion, an interim panel of Utah's Law Enforcement and 
Criminal Justice Interim Committee approved the use if firing squads on a 9-2 
vote Wednesday.

Under the bill it would mean a judge would need to determine if a legal drug 
combination was available a minimum of 30 days before the execution.

If not, the firing squad would become the method of execution.

Historically Utah gave death row inmates the choice of execution by lethal 
injection or a firing squad.

However in 2004 the lawmakers made lethal injection the primary method of 
execution, with a firing squad available for inmates who previously had the 
right to choose their method of dying.

In recent months America's death row units have found it increasingly difficult 
to obtain the deadly injections because of a European-led boycott on such 
sales.

The controversy surrounding the use of such methods has recently gained 
momentum after European manufacturers, including the Denmark-based maker of 
pentobarbital, banned US prisons from using their drugs for executions.

Currently 8 inmates reside on Utah's death row with Douglas Carter, convicted 
of killing Eva Olesen during a 1985 robbery at her home, due next.

But Deputy Utah Attorney General Tom Brunker said the inmate still has legal 
actions pending and no date has been set for his execution.

The last US execution by firing squad was in 2010 in Utah when twice-convicted 
killer Ronnie Lee Gardner was shot by a hail of bullets with a target had been 
pinned over his heart. He had requested the method of execution.

Oklahoma and Utah are the only US states with the option of death by firing 
squad - and Oklahoma only allows execution by firing squad if both injection 
and electrocution are found unconstitutional.

Famously played out in the Tom Hanks film, The Green Mile, the electric chair 
led to the most gruesome of deaths for condemned inmates.

Here, we look at some of the most controversial.

Frank J. Coppola, August 10, 1982, Virginia

It took 2 55-second jolts of electricity to kill the cop turned murderer. The 
2nd jolt produced the odour and sizzling sound of burning flesh, and murderer 
Coppola's head and leg caught on fire. Smoke filled the death chamber from 
floor to ceiling.

William E. Vandiver, October 16, 1985, Indiana

After the 1st administration of 2,300 volts, murderer William E. Vandiver was 
still breathing. The execution eventually took 17 minutes and 5 jolts of 
electricity. The Department of Corrections admitted the execution "did not go 
according to plan."

Raymond Landry, December 13, 1988, Texas

Murderer Raymond Landry was declared dead 40 minutes after being strapped to 
the execution gurney and 24 minutes after the drugs 1st started flowing into 
his arms. 2 minutes after the drugs were administered, the syringe came out of 
Landry's vein, spraying the deadly chemicals across the room toward witnesses.

Donald Eugene Harding, April 6, 1992, Arizona

Double murderer Donald Eugene Harding's death was not pronounced until almost 
11 minutes after the cyanide tablets were added to a gas chamber. During the 
execution, Harding thrashed and struggled violently against the restraining 
straps. His death prompted the use of lethal injections in some states.

Pedro Medina, March 25, 1997, Florida

Killer Pedro Medina execution saw a crown of flames shoot a foot above his head 
during his electrocution. Witnesses said the stench was unbearable leaving 2 
dozen witnesses gagging. Like the execution in the Green Mile is was concluded 
the improper application of a sponge was to blame.

Angel Diaz, December 13, 2006, Florida

After the 1st injection was administered to Angel Diaz he continued to move, 
and was squinting and grimacing as he tried to mouth words. A 2nd dose was then 
administered, and 34 minutes passed before the murderer and kidnapper was 
declared dead. The Medical Examiner ruled the problem had been the needle had 
gone through his vein and out the other side, so the deadly chemicals were 
injected into soft tissue.

Clayton Lockett, April 29, 2014, Oklahoma

Convicted murderer and rapist Clayton Lockett convulsed, clenched his teeth and 
struggled to talk during the 43 minutes it took him to die as the state tried 
out a new 3-drug lethal cocktail.

(source: Irish Mirror)

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

The Science Of Lethal Injection: How Most Capital Punishments Work

You're escorted into the small, windowless room that contains only a 
pale-turquoise gurney and two metal tables up against the wall. One table is 
neatly set with a pair of scissors, a small red bin, and strips of gauze. The 
stark cleanliness of the room is oddly disturbing and gives off a feeling of 
faux-comfort. A clock directly above the gurney hangs in the center of the 
white wall, its ticking an ominous premonition.

The next thing you notice is the large, cold mirror on the other wall facing 
the gurney. As you lie down on the gurney, you find yourself staring at this 
mirror, which is really a 1-way mirror. Behind it sit the witnesses of the 
execution - some of your relatives, possibly several of the relatives of your 
victims. They're able to watch you through that window, but you can only see 
the reflection of yourself lying there, like a specimen.

The prison officials strap you into the gurney and swab your arms with alcohol, 
then insert two IVs into each arm (one is the main line of execution; the other 
is a backup, just in case the 1st line fails). You see yourself in the mirror, 
lying helpless and strapped to the gurney - this is it. You're about to be "put 
down." They then start the saline drops, to make sure the IVs aren't blocked 
throughout the process. You're attached to a heart monitor so the prison 
officials will know when you're dead.

Anesthesia

The intravenous injection will involve a set sequence and several different 
drugs, given to you step-by-step. 1st, some form of anesthesia begins to get 
pumped into your veins - usually sodium thiopental or pentobarbital, meant to 
reduce pain and significantly decrease your breathing. This drug is technically 
not an analgesic or something that numbs pain nerves, but rather is meant to 
put you into unconsciousness that would, theoretically, prevent you from 
feeling pain. Within seconds, you begin to feel tired and heavy and you begin 
to doze off - into sleep or unconsciousness, you're not sure.

Paralysis

Once you're unconscious, the pancuronium bromide, or paralytic agent, begins to 
enter the IV - inducing paralysis of your muscles and lungs, which stops your 
breathing. Pancuronium bromide is a neuromuscular blocker that stops a nerve 
messenger, acetylcholine, from reaching the muscles. This ultimately causes 
muscular paralysis and respiratory arrest, which could lead to death by 
asphyxiation if the 3rd drug isn't administered.

Cardiac Arrest

And then, with potassium chloride, a salt substance, they stop your heart. This 
surge of chemicals impairs the heart by messing up its electrical signaling, 
ultimately inducing cardiac arrest, or complete stopping of the heart. The 
total amount of time it should take for you to die shouldn???t be more than 10 
minutes.

Lethal injection is used primarily in situations of capital punishment, when a 
prison inmate is sentenced to death. It began as an attempt by governments to 
make the death penalty slightly more "humane." The method was 1st proposed in 
1888 by a New York doctor who claimed it would be cheaper than hanging, but it 
didn't yet became implemented in the states. Some 50 years later, the method 
was used in Nazi Germany as euthanasia before being re-introduced in America in 
1977. In that year, Jay Chapman, Oklahoma's state medical examiner, proposed 
this "less painful" execution method: "An intravenous saline drip shall be 
started in the prisoner's arm, into which shall be introduced a lethal 
injection consisting of an ultra-short-acting barbiturate in combination with a 
chemical paralytic."

The law allowing lethal injection was passed in Oklahoma and is currently used 
by 35 states (though each state uses a different drug protocol). Traditionally, 
most states used the 3-drug combination for lethal injections, involving an 
anesthetic, a paralytic agent, and potassium chloride. But ever since there has 
been a lethal drug shortage due to the EU ban, many states have had to adopt 
different methods, including "1 drug," "pentobarbital," and "propofol."

Indeed, getting a lethal injection is by far better than electrocution, 
hanging, or decapitation, like used in the old days. But research has shown 
that lethal injection isn't devoid of pain. For example, a 2005 study found 
that 4 out of 10 prisoners might receive inadequate anesthesia, making the 
process far more painful than previously believed.

It seems smooth enough and should only take a few minutes, but recently several 
botched executions have taken place in the U.S., where it took up to 2 hours 
for some inmates to die. Their deaths were drawn out and often painful, 
involving burning sensations, convulsions, and gasping for breath. This is why 
some states have begun to debate whether lethal injection is truly "humane" 
(assisted in part by the 2011 European Union export ban on lethal drugs to the 
U.S., due to the fact that the EU calls for "universal abolition" of the death 
penalty). Other researchers have argued that not enough data or research exists 
on the current 3-drug protocol (anesthesia, pancuronium bromide, and potassium 
chloride) for it to be entirely safe. But it will be quite some time before the 
U.S. will decide whether to follow in Europe's footsteps and abolish lethal 
injection, or even the death penalty completely.

(source: Medical Daily)

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

Best-selling author of "Dead Man Walking" speaks to full house


For years there has been a battle raging behind the scenes of the death 
penalty. Both sides of the argument are passionate about their beliefs, but 
which side is standing on the right side of the fence?

Sister Helen Prejean, author of the award winning novel and movie, "Dead Man 
Walking," recently spoke at DMACC as part of the "Book of the Year" program, 
sharing some of her deep knowledge on the subject.

Sister Helen began her journey in 1982 as an advocate for abolishing the death 
penalty as a spiritual advisor to death row inmate, Patrick Sonnier, who had 
been convicted of a double murder.

Sonnier had been charged for the crime, along with his brother, though he was 
the only 1 of the 2 to receive the death penalty. Sister Helen would spend 2 
years visiting with and advising Sonnier before his death by electric chair in 
1984.

After Sonnier, she would go on to be a witness to 5 more executions. She would 
also become a leading advocate against the death penalty.

Upon the release of "Dead Man Walking" in 1993, the book would spend 31 weeks 
at the top of the New York Times best seller list.

It would go on to open the eyes of people all around the world about what is 
really involved in the taking of someone's life by the state.

The death penalty is still active in 32 states and as of January 2014 there are 
3,070 inmates currently awaiting execution on death row.

This statistic is only from 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated after a 
4-year suspension ordered by the Supreme Court, following the Furman v. Georgia 
case in 1972.

Since the adoption of the death penalty in 1834 there have been many different 
forms of execution methods: electric chair, gas chamber, firing squad, hanging, 
lethal injection.

Lethal injection is the current method typically used, but the days of hangings 
and firing squads are not that far behind us.

The last recorded hanging in the United States was in 1996 in Delaware; the 
last by firing squad in 2010 in Utah.

Imagine that for a second. Less than 20 years ago the United States still took 
part one of the most barbaric forms of execution, hanging, and just 4 years ago 
a death by firing squad.

Sister Helen argues for human rights in her book and her speech, asking if 
there is such a thing as a humane way to take someone's life.

She also talks about how inmates with money have a much lower chance of having 
the death penalty sought, simply because the D.A will not take the chance on 
losing if the defendant can afford a competent lawyer.

Instead leaning towards the cases that will most likely be open and shut cases 
for them.

She also asked the question, "Is the death penalty torture?" Yes, we have 
lethal injection now, which is said to be painless, but what about mentally?

Every day on death row the criminals are forced to play through their own death 
in their minds, from the walk to the death room to their last breaths.

Should this be considered cruel and unusual punishment?

Another factor in the debate of the death penalty - besides the obvious, human 
rights - is the cost of the entire process.

The cost of the average murder case without the death penalty being sought is 
$740,000 dollars, while cases where it is sought cost up to $1.2 million 
dollars.

Also maintaining prisoners on death row cost on average $90,000 more per year 
than a prisoner living out a life sentence in general population.

That's money coming out of the tax payer's pockets, simply to take the life of 
someone already in prison paying for their crime.

Sister Helen has served on the board of the National Coalition to Abolish the 
Death Penalty from 1985 - 1995, and has served as Chairperson of the Board from 
1993 - 1995.

She is also a member of Amnesty International and an honorary member of Murder 
Victim Families for Reconciliation.

She plans to fight for the end of the death penalty until she leaves this 
earth.

(source: The Campus Chronicle)