[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----COLO., NEV., CALIF., WASH., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 10



COLORADO:

Victims Object To Cameras At Holmes Murder Trial


Most victims and family members of those killed in the Aurora theater massacre 
said they don't want cameras in the courtroom during the trial of the murder 
suspect.

CBS4 learned that prosecutors polled the victims and family members of victims. 
64 % objected to media cameras during any phase of the trial, while 24 % said 
that was OK, 6 % took no position and 3% said cameras shouldn't show witnesses.

"I actually have an objection to it. It's going to be emotionally devastating 
to see pictures and videos and anything else that's going to come up," said 
Jessica Watts, who lost her cousin, Jonathan Blunk, in the shooting.

However, she said she didn't see a problem with still and video cameras during 
opening statements, closing arguments and the verdict - but she stressed 
witnesses shouldn't be shown.

"I don't want to see it necessarily captured and replayed for, you know, public 
consumption," she said.

The media have argued broadcasting the trial wouldn't interfere with suspect 
James Holmes' right to a fair trial. The prosecution and the defense filed 
motions saying they want to bar cameras but for different reasons.

Holmes' defense said it would violate his constitutional rights, affect the 
dignity of the proceedings and "provide little, if any, benefit to the public."

The Arapahoe County District Attorney's Office said allowing TV cameras and 
photographers in the courtroom would subject witnesses and victims to potential 
abuse and humiliation.

Holmes faces multiple murder counts and various other charges in the July 20, 
2012, slaying of 12 movie patrons. The DA's office is pursuing the death 
penalty. Holmes' lawyers are arguing an insanity defense.

(source: CBS news)






NEVADA:

Woods is still here to hear apology due her


Cathy Woods, now 64, has spent more than 30 years in the Nevada State Prison 
for killing a young nursing student near the University of Nevada campus in 
1976.

She's done the time, even though it now appears that she didn't do the crime.

On Monday, District Judge Patrick Flanagan ordered a new trial for Woods and 
released her from prison.

She will never get those years of her back. Yet, Woods, who was sentenced to 
life in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of the 
murder for the 2nd time in 1985, just as easily could have ended up the poster 
woman for opponents of the death penalty.

Had Woods been sentenced to death after the sensational trials, it would have 
been impossible to correct the wrong inflicted on her. She not only would have 
been wrongfully convicted; she would have been wrongfully executed, a penalty 
that would have made it impossible to set the record straight and a penalty 
that would have made it impossible to ever give her back the life that had been 
taken taken from her some 30 years ago.

If ever a good reason was needed to be concerned about the death penalty, this 
case provides it. It's the one sentence that can't be undone once it has been 
set in motion. Society can take back a sentence of life in prison; it can't do 
anything once a prisoner is executed.

--

>From the day that law enforcement officials announced that the brutal murder of 
19-year-old Michelle Mitchell had been solved thanks to a confession made by 
Woods' at a mental institution in Louisiana, the resolution has seemed 
unsatisfactory.

Over the years, there have been 2 theories about her motivation for the 
killing. In one, Mitchell was said to have been murdered because she rejected 
Woods' sexual advances. In another, the murder was planned to create a 
diversion for a second murder, that of a bartender in what was believed to be 
an insurance fraud.

There also were reports that Woods told investigators that she heard "satanic 
voices" before murdering Mitchell, who was going for help when her car broke 
down.

Newly tested DNA from a cigarette butt picked off the floor of the garage where 
Mitchell's body was found now indicates that the actual murder was someone 
else, a serial killer currently serving time in a prison in Oregon for 
attempted murder. The DNA also is said to match evidence found at the scenes of 
several murders in California known as the Gypsy Hill killings.

The new evidence was sufficient to compel Judge Flanagan to order a new trial. 
As the Gazette-Journal's Emerson Marcus reported, even the Washoe County 
District Attorney's Office told the judge that a new trail was warranted.

That's an unusual train of events for Nevada, but it's one that has occurred 
with increasing frequency around the nation since DNA testing has come into 
vogue. As the Woods case demonstrates, there's a lot of evidence sitting in 
lockers just waiting to be tested. Often the DNA tests will prove that law 
enforcement got it right; sometimes, however, it will prove that they got it 
wrong and the life of someone on death row is saved.

Woods isn't on death row, but she could have been, given the strong feelings in 
the community over the case. Instead, she's still alive to hear the apology 
that she's owed.

(source: Editorial, Reno Gazette Journal)






CALIFORNIA:

Gang member gets death penalty for 2004 murders of Whittier man and Rowland 
Heights man


A 30-year-old gang member on Monday was sentenced to death for killing a 
Rowland Heights man and a Pasadena City College student while committing a 
series of robberies in the San Gabriel Valley and Whittier 10 years ago.

Leonardo Cisneros fatally shot Dianqiu Wu, 50, of Rowland Heights on Aug. 4, 
2004 during a street robbery in San Gabriel. He also fatally shot Joseph 
Molina, 22, of Whittier while robbing a Whittier Subway sandwich shop on Dec. 
10, 2004.

Cisneros told an accomplice he shot Molina because he wasn't moving fast 
enough. Wu was already lying on the ground and told Cisneros he would give him 
money. Cisneros shot Wu in the stomach and took his wallet.

"(These were) brutal senseless murders and he got what he deserved," said 
Deputy District Attorney Frank Santoro who prosecuted the case.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge also ordered Cisneros to reimburse the state 
victim compensation program of about $4,800.

Cisneros was convicted of the 1st degree murders of Wu and Molina, 18 counts of 
robbery and 1 count of attempted robbery. The jurors also found true the 
special circumstances of multiple murders, murders during the course of 
robberies and personal use of a gun in the vast majority of the crimes.

Santoro said Cisneros got multiple life sentences for some of the armed 
robberies.

Molina's mother, Josephine, said that she decided to forgive Cisneros.

"I made my decision after 10 years of waiting for this moment of justice. I 
pray he will be converted," she said. "I know not everybody will understand 
what I did, but I did it out of inspiration."

Josephine Molina said she was inspired by the TV movie, "The Scarlet and the 
Black", and the miniseries, "Jesus of Nazareth" to write what she read at the 
sentencing. She said her sister and her cousin's husband also spoke at the 
sentencing.

In her statement, Josephine Molina wrote that the trial could not bring her son 
back to life. But she said it brought about the realization that his death 
played an important role.

She said a therapist suggested her son did not die in vain because his death, 
albeit senseless and brutal, served to stem more robberies and murders. 
Josephine Molina told Cisneros her message to him was repentance. She said she 
saw no remorse from him during the trial.

"It grieves me to say the justice of God on you is eternal damnation in hell. 
While the heart of God is mercy and compassion, he is also a God of justice 
whom you have offended. I therefore, urge you to seek his forgiveness and 
mercy," she said in her statement.

Cisneros was among 5 people charged with the 2004 robbery spree.

The former Montebello resident was charged with 5 robberies and also suspected 
of 2 additional robberies.

The 4 other defendants decided to take plea deals.

Sara Lopez, 30, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact in the 
killing of Wu and was sentenced on Jan. 8, 2010 to 3 years probation.

Jose Resendez, 37, Bernadette Corvera, 32, and Mitzie Oso, 35, were sentenced 
on June 2.

Resendez pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Wu and got 15 years in 
prison. Corvera also received a 15-year sentence for pleading guilty to the 
second-degree murder of Molina and to the robbery.

Oso, who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the murders of Wu and 
Molina, received 8 years.

(source: Whittier Daily News)






WASHINGTON:

Carnation defendant incompetent to stand trial, psychologist testifies----A 
psychologist retained by the defense testified that Michele Anderson suffers 
from profound mental illnesses but is able to feign competency for brief times. 
He said she is motivated by desire to to be put to death for her alleged 
crimes.


Since 2008, 6 psychologists - 4 of them from Western State Hospital - have all 
determined that Michele Anderson is competent to stand trial for allegedly 
killing 6 members of her family on Christmas Eve 2007 in Carnation.

But Dr. Mark Cunningham, a psychologist retained by the defense, testified on 
Thursday and again on Tuesday that Anderson is not only incompetent and suffers 
from profound mental illnesses, but is able to feign competency for "brief 
bursts" of time. He said she is motivated to do so by her desire to commit 
"suicide-by-state" - to be put to death for her alleged crimes.

Cunningham, who authored a competency report in August, based much of his 
current report on one he wrote in July 2008 that Anderson's previous attorneys 
never made part of the court record. King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Scott 
O'Toole said the state only learned of the 2008 report last week, when 
Cunningham first took the stand.

A psychologist retained by the state who found Anderson competent to stand 
trial after interviewing her in June 2013 and June of this year is to testify 
in Anderson's competency hearing next week.

Anderson has undergone 3 competency evaluations - and has been represented by 3 
different teams of attorneys - since she and former boyfriend Joseph McEnroe 
were each charged with 6 counts of aggravated 1st-degree murder and notified 
that the state would be seeking the death penalty should they be found guilty.

Jury selection in McEnroe's case is in preliminary stages, with opening 
statements expected in January. Members of McEnroe's defense team were in court 
for Cunningham's testimony, in which he opined that Anderson suffers from a 
"very serious psychological disorder that rises to delusions."

While Cunningham acknowledged that Anderson's functioning isn't obviously 
impaired and her behavior isn't overtly bizarre, he said she also suffers from 
depression and displays characteristics of a paranoid personality disorder and 
mood disorder.

According to a recent motion filed by McEnroe's defense, doctors who have 
evaluated McEnroe believe he was involved in a "pathological relationship" with 
Anderson and has a weak ego that made him susceptible to her paranoid 
delusions.

Anderson's defense attorneys, Colleen O'Connor and David Sorenson, stipulated 
to her competency in 2011, King County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ramsdell 
was told Tuesday. But they raised concerns about Anderson's competency last 
year after she repeatedly refused to meet with them or review discovery 
materials in her case.

She also has refused to be interviewed by other defense experts and repeatedly 
canceled or terminated interviews with Dr. Brian Judd, the state's 
psychologist, Ramsdell heard.

Anderson has accused Sorenson of perjuring himself and filed a handwritten 
motion last week asking for new attorneys, according to testimony and court 
records.

She also has refused to meet with Cunningham, whom she has threatened with a 
civil suit, since he last interviewed her in March 2008.

He testified that Anderson described family members, former friends and 
neighbors as abusive, mean-spirited and malevolent toward her. Cunningham also 
testified that Anderson believes she has a spirit guide named John - a 
fisherman from the early 1900s - who visits her and gives her information, 
which she has used to make decisions in her case, Cunningham said.

Cunningham, who critiqued the other doctors who found Anderson competent for 
allegedly not challenging her responses, said none of the other evaluators was 
able to obtain the same "social history" of her life that he did.

He also said those doctors were more concerned about her ability to understand 
the charges against her, while he has been focused on her ability to "aid and 
assist" her attorneys - both of which are required for someone to be found 
competent to stand trial.

On cross-examination, Cunningham acknowledged that his conclusion that Anderson 
is capable of feigning competency was included in his 2008 report, but he 
didn't mention it in his August report.

"I certainly believe she is motivated to feign" competency, he said. "For a 
brief burst, she can hold it together."

When pressed by O'Toole, the senior deputy prosecutor, who asked if all the 
other doctors and Anderson's own attorneys "got it wrong" in finding Anderson 
competent in 2008, 2011 and this year, Cunningham said their conclusions were 
"in error."

"I didn't evaluate her (recently) but yes - my conclusion is she has not been 
competent to stand trial since 2008," Cunningham said.

(source: Seattle Times)






USA:

Marathon Bombing Suspect, Feds Battle Over Moving Trial


A push by Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to move his trial 
outside Massachusetts has led to a war of words - and paper - between his 
lawyers and federal prosecutors.

The 2 sides have filed more than 100 pages of legal briefs vehemently arguing 
their positions for and against the move. After the defense filed a 3rd brief, 
including a 40-page affidavit from a 2nd expert, the judge struck it from the 
court docket, granting a request from prosecutors who said, "Tsarnaev has 
decided that there should be no limits on his right to litigate it."

The stakes are huge: Tsarnaev could get the death penalty if convicted.

Prosecutors say Tsarnaev, 21, and his older brother, Tamerlan, 26, placed 2 
homemade bombs near the finish line of the 2013 marathon. The blasts killed 3 
people and injured more than 260.

Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to 30 federal charges and faces a November 
trial. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died in a gun battle with police several days after 
the bombings.

In their motion to move the trial out of state, Tsarnaev's lawyers said a 
survey of potential jurors showed that nearly 58 % of Boston respondents who 
were aware of the case "definitely" believed Tsarnaev was guilty. 37 % believed 
that, if convicted, he deserves the death penalty.

Tsarnaev's lawyers want to move the trial to Washington, D.C., where the 
percentage of those who believe he is definitely guilty and deserves the death 
penalty is much smaller.

Prosecutors insist Tsarnaev can get a fair trial in Boston. They argue that the 
Eastern Division of Massachusetts - where the jury pool would be drawn from - 
covers a diverse area with a population of over 5 million.

Attorney David Hoose, who defended a nurse facing the death penalty for killing 
four patients at a Massachusetts veterans hospital, said it is somewhat 
surprising that Judge George O'Toole Jr. agreed to strike the 3rd brief filed 
by Tsarnaev's lawyers.

"Most judges - especially in capital cases - want to give the defendant every 
opportunity to be heard," Hoose said. "I think most people understand ... that 
these cases are different from everything else, and it really is not 
appropriate to insist on rigid compliance with the rules that have the effect 
of limiting what you want to say."

The defense also cites the trial of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, which 
was moved to Denver. They say the marathon bombing had an even greater 
emotional impact on the Boston area because of the 4-day police search for the 
Tsarnaevs capped by a dramatic final day when thousands of residents were told 
to stay in their homes.

"If there's ever been a case that called for a change of venue in federal 
court, this is it," said Christopher Dearborn, a professor at Suffolk 
University Law School.

But others say judges have to set limits.

"Judges need to make decisions. They need to hold to a schedule as long as it's 
not compromising the ability to present a defense," said Gerry Leone, a former 
state and federal prosecutor.

"You can prepare forever, but at some point you have to be given a deadline and 
a timeline. At some point, the judge just calls it, says, 'I've got what I 
need. We've got to move on and keep the litigation going.'"

(source: Associated Press)