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

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 25



OHIO:

Martin gets death penalty, and 'deserves it,' prosecutor says


David Martin was sentenced to the death penalty and 61 years in prison 
Wednesday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

Judge Andrew Logan on Wednesday affirmed the death-penalty recommendation made 
by a jury last week. The same jury found Martin guilty of aggravated murder and 
other crimes 2 weeks ago for killing Jeremy Cole, 21, and attempting to kill 
Melissa Putnam in September 2012.

The 61 years in prison were imposed for attempted aggravated murder, 2 counts 
each of aggravated robbery and kidnapping, as well as being a felon in 
possession of a firearm, receiving stolen property and tampering with evidence.

Martin, 30, of Cleveland, has spent nearly his entire adult life locked up in 
jails or prisons. According to records from the Ohio Department of 
Rehabilitation and Corrections, Martin has been out of prison less than a year 
since getting arrested for his 1st adult felony in July 2001, when he was 16.

Martin did not speak before the sentence was handed down, though Chris Becker, 
assistant county prosecutor, asked Martin heatedly if he had "something to say" 
because of hand gestures and comments Martin apparently cast in Becker's 
direction earlier in the hearing.

Martin declined to say anything back to Becker or to give a statement to the 
court. His attorneys said Martin's unsworn statement and apology for the crimes 
at the end of the trial would suffice.

"The death penalty is the ultimate penalty for the ultimate crime, and he 
deserves it," Becker said after the sentencing.

Amy Biles of Warren, sister of Jeremy Cole, said she believes Martin "got what 
he deserves," though she forgives Martin because her religious beliefs require 
that.

(source: Youngstown Vindicator)






SOUTH DAKOTA:

Death penalty decision postponed in March murder case


Prosecutors have yet to decide whether to seek the death penalty for a parolee 
accused of raping and killing a Sioux Falls woman in her home in March.

The request for additional time was made at the end of a hearing in the murder 
case against 40-year-old Christopher Dean Kryger, who's charged with murder, 
rape and burglary in the death of 56-year-old Kari Anne Kirkegaard on March 14.

Kirkegaard's body was found two days after police say Kryger broke in, rape and 
strangled her and left her lying in her bathtub.

Kryger was taken into custody as a suspect on March 20 after a tip from the 
public and held for a week as police waited for results of a DNA test. He was 
formally arrested when the test results returned a match.

Judge Mark Salter, who already has pushed Kryger's trial back to July, had set 
a deadline of Dec. 1 for a decision from prosecutors on whether to seek the 
death penalty.

At the end of a hearing on evidentiary matters on Wednesday, Minnehaha County 
Deputy State's Attorney Mandi Mowery asked Salter for another delay.

Salter said he wanted to give the parties enough time to weigh the decision 
carefully, but he said he was concerned about pushing back the decision any 
further.

Doing so would almost surely push the trial date back even further.

"It triggers a whole other level of scrutiny and formality," Salter said.

Mowery said she doubts the decision would take much longer to make, but did not 
offer a time frame.

Salter did not make a ruling on the matter in open court.

Kryger, who has spent most of his adult life in prison, remains in DOC custody 
awaiting trial.

(source: Argus Leader)






USA:

Former FBI Director Says People Were Executed Based Partly on Faulty Agency 
Testimony


William Sessions, former head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, recently 
pointed to cases of defendants who were executed based in part on faulty hair 
and fiber analysis in calling for changes in the use of forensic evidence. In 
an op-ed in the Washington Times, Sessions told the story of Benjamin Boyle, 
who was executed in Texas in 1997. His conviction was based on testing 
conducted by an FBI crime lab that an official review later determined to be 
unreliable and "scientifically unsupportable." Neither state officials nor 
Boyle's attorneys were notified of the task force's findings before his 
execution. In 2 other cases, inmates were also executed despite findings that 
their cases were tainted by unreliable forensic testimony from the FBI. 
Sessions said, "I have no idea whether Boyle was innocent, but clearly, he was 
executed despite great doubts about his conviction. Such uncertainty is 
unacceptable, especially in a justice system that still allows the death 
penalty."

Sessions offered recommendations for improvement at each step in the legal 
process: "Courts must determine if other kinds of forensic evidence are 
trustworthy and thus admissible. Defense counsel must rigorously review and 
challenge any prosecution misuse, mischaracterization, or withholding of 
forensic evidence. After conviction, if new forensic evidence or tests become 
available, prosecutors and courts should not rely on procedural technicalities 
to prevent defendants from obtaining review."

(source: DPIC)

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

Boston Marathon bomber trial delayed until January


A US judge has has overturned a bid by the man accused of the Boston Marathon 
bombings to move his trial out of the city where the atrocity took place.

However, US District Judge George O'Toole agreed to delay the start of the 
trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev by 2 months to January, pushing it back to after the 
US holiday season.

(source: ITV.com)