[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., ARIZ., CALIF.

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 18



TEXAS----new execution date

Richard Vasquez has been given an execution date for January 15, 2015; it 
should be considered serious.


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

Executions under Rick Perry, 2001-present-----278

Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982-present----517

Perry #--------scheduled execution date-----name---------Tx. #

279------------Oct. 15------------------Larry Hatten----------518

280------------Oct. 28------------------Miguel Paredes--------519

281------------Jan. 14------------------Rodney Reed-----------520

282------------Jan. 15------------------Richard Vasquez-------521

283------------Jan. 21-------------------Arnold Prieto--------522

284------------Jan. 28-------------------Garcia White---------523

285------------Feb. 4--------------------Donald Newbury-------524

286------------Feb. 10-------------------Les Bower, Jr.-------525

287------------Mar. 18-------------------Randall Mays---------526

(source for both: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)

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

Amnesty USA Reacts to Missouri, Texas Executions


Amnesty International USA executive director Steven W. Hawkins responded to the 
executions of Earl Ringo, Jr in Missouri and Willie Trottie in Texas. Amnesty 
opposes the death penalty as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading 
punishment. Particularly troubling are reports of the use of midazolam, a 
chemical that was used in previous botched executions in Ohio, Oklahoma and 
Arizona.

"It is disgraceful that the United States continues to allow this cruel, 
inhuman and degrading punishment. Even within the U.S., more than 1/3rd of the 
50 states have abolished the death penalty. Missouri, Texas, and all of the 
other states that currently retain the death penalty should follow. The U.S. 
cannot claim to be a leader in human rights while it continues executing its 
prisoners."

Amnesty USA's Abolish the Death Penalty landing page has the latest news, 
statistics and action items on the issue.

(source: Amnesty International USA)

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

This is insane: A Texas man is facing the death penalty for defending his home 
with deadly force


In the great state of Texas, it is legal, almost mandatory, to defend your home 
with deadly force from armed intruders. If someone attempts to climb into your 
window in the deep, pre-dawn darkness at 5:30 am, you would be justified in 
shooting them, right? In almost all conceivable cases, yes. Especially in 
Texas.

But what if the intruder turns out to be a member of a SWAT team attempting a 
no-knock drug raid on a search warrant? We're about to find out, but it could 
mean the death penalty.

Marvin Louis Guy of Killeen, Texas and a female companion opened fire on 
several men entering their home through windows and doors, killing 1 and 
injuring another. The intruders turned out to be members of a SWAT team 
composed of Killeen police and state organized crime investigative officers who 
were serving a warrant based on tips from an informant that there was drug 
trafficking going on in the residence.

Given that it was a "no-knock" raid, the residents did not know that it was law 
enforcement officers entering their home. No-knock raids are often conducted on 
search warrants for drug trafficking suspicion to prevent hardened criminals 
from attacking the cops when they are announced. It didn't quite turn out that 
way this time.

Guy already faces 1 count of capital murder and 3 counts of attempted capital 
murder and thus the death penalty, which the district attorney is pursuing. 
Capital murder requires knowledge that the target is a law enforcement officer, 
which isn't at all clear here.

The assistant district attorney on the case, Murff Bledsoe, said: "Additional 
charges are likely." Unclear what those charges would be. I'm sure Bledsoe will 
come up with something creative to guarantee a conviction and pad his resume.

Oh, and no drugs were found in the search.

(source: unitedliberty.org)






PENNSYLVANIA:

Former Reading man on death row gets new trial due to serious juror misconduct


A Berks County judge has awarded a former Reading man sitting on death row a 
new trial due to serious juror misconduct.

President Judge Paul M. Yatron issued the opinion Monday regarding Bryan S. 
Galvin, who was convicted of 1st-degree murder and sentenced to death in 2007 
in the killing of his friend, Kristofer Kolesnik, 32, of Reading.

Yatron's decision came after a post-conviction appeal filed by Reading lawyer 
William C. Bispels Jr., on Galvin's behalf.

The appeal centered around evidence that several members of the jury selected 
from Luzerne County discovered information about Galvin's prior criminal 
history in the midst of the trial.

According to the opinion, at least 1 juror researched the case during the trial 
and discovered that Galvin had been acquitted of murder in an unrelated case. 
The juror also discovered and shared that Galvin assaulted a sheriff's deputy 
during an attempt to select a Berks County jury on the case involving 
Kolesnik's death.

The opinion notes that the information the juror discovered is factual, but was 
prohibited from being included in the trial since it was not related to the 
case.

Jurors were given strict instructions to refrain from researching the case. 
Yatron wrote that the information the jury learned of was inflammatory, making 
it difficult for the jurors to properly exercise their duties.

"A typical juror exposed to such information would be unavoidably concerned 
with the idea of acquitting a violent man - one who had killed before and who 
could possibly kill again," the judge said in the opinion.

Bispels praised the judge for the ruling.

"It's the right decision because the juror misconduct was so blatant," Bispels 
said.

"We all know President Judge Yatron is a law-and-order guy," he added. "I'm 
sure it pained him to make this decision, but I really give him credit because 
the law was clear."

The case on trial involved testimony that Galvin shot Kolesnik in the head Jan. 
30, 2006 and then put his body in a van. He was on his way to dump the body 
when police stopped him in Kenhorst for driving at night without his headlights 
on.

Prosecutors were not allowed to mention that Galvin was accused of killing 
another friend, Todd Heck, in 1991. After 3 trials on that case, Galvin was 
acquitted of the charges in May 1999.

Counsel attempted to select a jury for the Kolesnik murder case within Berks 
County, but was unable to because of extensive pretrial publicity.

A jury was eventually selected from Luzerne County on July 30, 2007. The jury 
convicted Galvin of 1st-degree murder on Aug. 10, 2007 and imposed the death 
penalty on Aug. 13, 2007. Yatron sentenced Galvin to death on Sept. 6, 2007.

Attorneys representing Galvin interviewed several jurors in 2012 and secured 
statements from 3 of them admitting that they knew of Galvin's criminal history 
during deliberations.

One of the jurors said another juror told them during the bus ride between 
Luzerne and Berks counties that she had investigated Galvin online and that he 
had gotten away with another murder involving a turkey knife.

The juror said the panel felt the evidence for Galvin's guilt was strong, 
however, she had been in favor of a sentence of life without parole, not the 
death penalty.

"Although I was a hold-out for life, learning about his prior murder helped 
convince me to go along with death," she wrote in the statement.

A 2nd juror stated that he also heard another juror stating she had "looked up 
Galvin." He said she mentioned he had fought a constable and stabbed someone 
with a turkey fork.

A hearing on the appeal was held before Yatron Jan. 15, 2014 and included 
testimony from several jurors. The juror that allegedly researched Galvin 
claimed she only learned of his past after the trial, but the other 2 jurors 
that gave statements testified they heard about it from her during the trial.

The case is being handled by the Attorney General's Office due to a conflict of 
interest with the Berks County District Attorney's Office. Former District 
Attorney Mark C. Baldwin was the prosecutor during the 2007 trial.

J.J. Abbott, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, said his office is 
still reviewing Yatron's opinion and declined to comment further.

(source: Reading Eagle)

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

Pennsylvania's Lethal Injection Fiasco


The commonwealth's 1st execution in 15 years, set for September 22, had to be 
postponed - after corrections officials couldn't get their hands on the lethal 
chemicals they needed.

15 years after its last execution, Pennsylvania is finding it difficult to fire 
up its death machine again.

If the commonwealth gets its way, it will soon strap 58-year-old confessed 
murderer Hubert Michael Jr. to a gurney inside the State Correctional 
Institution at Rockview, insert an IV into his vein, and fill his body with 
lethal chemicals until his heart stops beating. There's just one little 
problem. The Department of Corrections can't seem to get its hands on the drugs 
it needs to do the job.

On Friday, Gov. Tom Corbett announced that he is postposing Michael's September 
22 execution because the department doesn't have a stock of lethal chemicals on 
hand and is still seeking a supplier. Michael, who is rapidly approaching the 
end of his appeals, would be the 1st prisoner executed in the Keystone State 
since 1999, when a judge ruled that condemned torture-killer Gary Heidnik's 
desire to end his own life could not be used as evidence of his mental 
incapacity.

The implications for Pennsylvania are great: The last time the commonwealth 
executed an inmate who hadn't voluntarily waived his right to appeal, John F. 
Kennedy was president. Corbett is eager to break that streak. He's signed 35 
death warrants during his tenure in office, all of which have been stayed. And 
he has gone on record saying he is "committed to carrying out the sentence" 
against Michael.

Susan McNaughton, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, 
offered no explanation to The Daily Beast for the department's trouble 
obtaining the drugs. She also declined to comment on speculation among some 
well-placed observers that the department has been turned down by at least 1 
supplier, most likely the compounding pharmacy that provided the drugs the last 
time Michael was scheduled for execution, in November 2012.

"We have been and will continue to work to acquire the drugs in accordance with 
the law," McNaughton said via email. "How long that will take, we do not know."

In a case of conspicuous timing, the governor's decision came one day after the 
American Civil Liberties Union and a group of newspapers filed a motion in 
federal court seeking information on what drugs the commonwealth will use on 
Michael and where it plans to get them. The petitioners are piggybacking on a 
class action suit filed in 2006, Chester v. Wetzel, that challenges 
Pennsylvania's lethal injection protocol as unconstitutional because it lacks 
adequate protections against needless pain and suffering.

The most recent filing in the case seeks to unseal documents related to the 
Department of Corrections' last lethal drug acquisition and lay the groundwork 
for similar transparency in all future executions.

Mary Catherine Roper, an ACLU attorney representing the newspapers, said the 
execution postponement caught her and her colleagues off guard.

"Nobody is surprised that it's getting harder to locate these drugs," she said, 
"but no one at the Department of Corrections had indicated publicly that they 
hadn't been able to secure them."

The department has not revealed which drug or drugs it is having trouble 
purchasing, but it's a safe bet that at least one of them is the 1st drug 
administered during an execution, a sedative that is designed to render the 
condemned unconscious during the procedure.

Pennsylvania has conducted 3 executions by lethal injection since 1995, each 
time using a 3-drug protocol that included the sedative sodium thiopental, 
followed by the paralytic pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride, which 
stops the heart.

"I doubt that any governor would want his or her legacy to be a torture session 
like those we've had recently in states like Oklahoma and Arizona."

For all intents and purposes, sodium thiopental is now unavailable in the 
United States. In 2011 the European Union banned its export for use in capital 
punishment, and the sole U.S. manufacturer of the drug chose to stop making it 
rather than promise authorities in Italy - the site of a new manufacturing 
facility - that it wouldn't be used in executions.

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections amended its protocol accordingly to 
allow for a second sedative, pentobarbital - sold under the brand name Nembutal 
- to be used. But Lundbeck, the Danish maker of Nembutal, no longer sells the 
drug to U.S. prisons. A shortage of pentobarbital has forced some states to 
improvise, often with gruesome consequences.

Since January, at least three botched executions have been tied to the sedative 
drug midazolam, which states began incorporating as an alternative to 
pentobarbital as it became increasingly difficult to acquire.

McNaughton says Pennsylvania has no plans to modify its existing cocktail. That 
means it will need to get pentobarbital from a compounding pharmacy, another 
source of concern, experts say. Compounding pharmacies are not regulated by the 
Food and Drug Administration and have a track record of delivering low-quality 
and adulterated drugs.

Court transcripts made available by the Pennsylvania ACLU indicate that the 
drugs ordered by the Department of Corrections from an unidentified compounding 
pharmacy for Michael's last scheduled execution contained lower concentrations 
of pentobarbital sodium than are found in brand-name Nembutal and were 
delivered in vials that did not adhere to standard color-coding protocols.

It's worth noting that Hubert Michael Jr. is not innocent of his crime, nor 
does he claim to be. In 1993, while out on bail on a rape charge, he kidnapped 
a teenage girl named Trista Eng while she walked to work, drove her to a remote 
location with the intention of sexually assaulting her, and shot her to death. 
He pleaded guilty to 1st-degree murder and was sentenced to die. Some people 
would argue that's a just penalty.

But the spectacle playing out on Pennsylvania is about more than 1 condemned 
inmate. Despite having the fourth-highest death row population in the country, 
Pennsylvania isn't terribly good at carrying out the ultimate penalty. A third 
of the 184 inmates now on death row there received their sentences more than 2 
decades ago, and at least 24 have died of natural causes before their sentences 
could be carried out.

Legal experts, including the American Bar Association, blame the poor state of 
inmate representation in capital cases.

For years there were no pre-qualifications for an attorney to handle capital 
cases in the commonwealth. And Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation 
that provides no post-conviction financial support for defense appeals, meaning 
defendants are typically required to turn to county services and the aid of 
less-than-able court-appointed attorneys. As a result, cases are often wildly 
mismanaged. Nearly as many death convictions are overturned in Pennsylvania as 
are handed down each year, the majority of them due to ineffective assistance 
of counsel.

Most Pennsylvanians now support a moratorium on capital punishment until its 
efficacy can be determined. Opponents of the death penalty see the state's drug 
problem as a sign that that time has come.

"The mere fact that it's so difficult to score these drugs spotlights how 
isolated we are from most of civilized society in our obsession with executing 
people," said Kathleen Lucas, executive director of Pennsylvanians for 
Alternatives to the Death Penalty. "I doubt that any governor would want his or 
her legacy to be a torture session like those we've had recently in states like 
Oklahoma and Arizona."

But Corbett's legacy is not the only thing keeping him up at night. The 
governor's prospects for reelection in November are already on shaky ground, 
and being forced to pull the plug on the state's 1st execution in 15 years 
would be an embarrassment to his administration. His Democratic challenger, Tom 
Wolf, has promised to issue a moratorium on executions if elected. With Wolf 
leading by 24 points in the polls, Hubert Michael's last hope of avoiding 
execution may come from the voting booth, not a courtroom.

(source: Daily Beast)






NORTH CAROLINA:

NC Innocence Inquiry Commission a lifesaver for innocent, death row inmates


On Sept. 2, 2014, after spending 30 years on death row, a travesty of justice 
was averted when Henry Lee McCollum was acquitted of the 1983 rape and murder 
of Sabrina Buie. Henry's brother, Leon Brown, was also acquitted of the rape 
and released. Had it not been for Brown's 2009 application to the North 
Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, McCollum would still be on death row.

In fact, had it not been for the connection between the two brothers in the 
Buie case, the commission would not have reviewed Henry's part. For some inane 
reason the commission cannot investigate death penalty cases until a prisoner's 
appeals have been exhausted, and the defendant files a claim. The problem with 
this is when a death row prisoner exhausts his or her appeals, they are 
executed. How incredibly fortunate for Henry there has been a de facto 
moratorium on the death penalty in North Carolina since 2007.

This was too close. As it stands, Henry and Leon had their youth stolen from 
them by overzealous, blind SBI agents, impressionable jurors, ineffective 
attorneys and a prosecutor who brags about his oratory power to persuade people 
rather than relying upon the facts or evidence in a case. How many more cases 
on death row are just like Henry McCollum's? This is not an aberration, his is 
the 8th acquittal on North Carolina's death row.

The difference between the previous seven acquittals and Henry is that an 
objective commission had a hand in clearing Henry and Leon of any wrongdoing. 
The first 7 had to rely on their appellate attorneys and the minimal resources 
available to them. One wonders why Henry's attorneys, after 3 decades, were 
incapable of freeing him; or why, with a little bit of digging, exculpatory DNA 
evidence was so easily found by the commission. These questions may seem 
complex, but they underline a common problem with many appellate attorneys who 
represent death row prisoners: The bare minimum is the status quo.

In Henry's case, the bare minimum in 1991 put him back on death row after a new 
trial. His attorney tried to coerce Henry to confess to a crime he did not 
commit. This is inexcusable. With so many people against indigent, 
intellectually challenged defendants like Henry McCollum, it's a miracle this 
man made it home alive. All glory to God indeed, Henry.

Christine Mumma, executive director of the N.C. Center for Actual Innocence, 
mentioned some lessons learned from the exoneration of Henry McCollum. What the 
public needs to be aware of is that the horrible circumstances of injustice in 
the Buie case are a culture in North Carolina death penalty cases, not some 
isolated event. Maybe, if the Innocence Commission were to work in conjunction 
with appellate attorneys to defend their clients, 31-year prison terms by 
innocent men can be avoided. At the very least the commission can demonstrate 
what it means to be true representatives of justice.

(source: Lyle C. May is a death row inmate at Central Prison in Raleigh. He 
received 2 death sentences for the 1997 double murder in Asheville of Valerie 
Sue Riddle and her son, Kelly Mark Laird Jr. ---- News & Observer)



ARIZONA:

Convicted Murderer 'In Great Spirits' Despite Death Penalty Possibility


Despite facing the death penalty, convicted murderer Jodi Arias is said to be 
doing well even as the date of the 2nd penalty phase trail approaches. The 
trail is set to begin on September 29, even though the start date has been 
pushed back several times, presiding Judge Sherry Stephens has warned Jodi 
Arias and her representation that the second penalty phase will not suffer any 
additional set backs.

Adding to the antics and overall interest in the ever-persistent Jodi Arias 
trail is the official Jodi Arias Twitter account. The social media account 
which updates it's 75,000 followers on the convicted murderer's daily life, 
also serves to promote the sale of her art work which she says she has been a 
large part of her since she was a child. The Twitter account has revealed that 
Jodi is in a good mood ahead of the jury selection, stating, "I spoke to Jodi 
this afternoon on the phone; she is in great spirits and is receiving relief 
from her migraines with new medication." A Jodi Arias supporter, who took over 
tweeting duties earlier this year, after Arias stopped updating followers 
regularly, runs the account. "Jodi says hello to all her supporters and thanks 
everyone for their good wishes," it added.

After relinquishing the right to represent herself, it seems that Jodi is again 
confident in her case despite the prosecution vying for the looming death 
penalty. Jodi Arias has decided to auction of the glasses that she wore through 
the 2013 trial, in which the jury convicted her of murdering her former 
boyfriend Travis Alexander. Alexander sustained multiple stab wounds, a slit 
throat, and a gunshot to the head in his Mesa, Arizona home. The starting bid 
for the glasses is a staggering $500, however the listing is enticing potential 
bidders by stating, "Get ready to own a 1-of-a kind piece of history." The 
website also confirms that the proceeds of the auction will go to a still 
unnamed Phoenix-based nonprofit.

(source: Latin Times)






CALIFORNIA:

Attacker demands death penalty


A man scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday for attempted murder requested the 
death penalty because, he said, he knows his brain and he wants to kill.

Sutter County Superior Court Judge Susan E. Green postponed the sentencing of 
Wesley T. Bradford until Friday, pending the review of a new doctor's report 
regarding Bradford's sanity. He was convicted of attempted murder without 
premeditation Monday for stabbing a co-resident of a Yuba City mental health 
facility in the throat in January. Green said she found good cause to postpone 
the hearing after several comments made by Bradford and his defense attorney, 
Douglas Tibbitts.

Bradford said he wants the death penalty or life in prison. But he signed a 
plea agreement on Monday for 13 years in prison and has consistently commented 
he wants to be sentenced as soon as possible.

"I know what I did. My mind is sick. I will never change. I will come back to 
court (after completing a prison term) and get the death penalty or I will get 
killed," Bradford said.

Green said she had never heard a defendant request the death penalty and didn't 
know if Bradford was being dramatic, but she found good cause to postpone the 
hearing at the request of his attorney.

Tibbitts said 2 doctors found Bradford competent, but a 3rd doctor found that 
Bradford is intelligent and tricked doctors into thinking he is sane. That 
doctor found, "he is not sane and should not be treated as a sane person," 
Tibbitts said.

"I'm not a psychologist or a psychiatrist," Tibbitts said. "I want to make sure 
we're doing the right thing."

Bradford raised his hand to speak throughout the hearing.

"I am sane," he said. "I am clear-thinking."

He said he has been thinking about killing everybody, "the gods, the angels and 
the demons."

"I want to kill people. I have to, I need it," he said. "I'm a sick individual. 
Just get me over with."

He said he stabbed the victim (in January) for her sake because she wanted it, 
but also for his own sake.

"Truthfully, I'm not sorry," he said.

(source: Appeal-Democrat)