[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----NEB., COLO.

[Rick Halperin]

Aug. 4



NEBRASKA:

Ernie Chambers, David Kofoed find common ground: They both oppose death penalty


Nebraska's death penalty repeal has forged some unlikely alliances, but the one 
between Ernie Chambers and David Kofoed ranks among the most surprising.

Chambers, the Omaha state senator and outspoken police critic, has in the past 
lambasted Kofoed for representing all that is wrong with the criminal justice 
system. A judge convicted Kofoed of planting blood evidence in a 2006 Murdock, 
Nebraska, investigation that resulted in 2 men being wrongly accused of murder.

But Chambers' attitude toward Kofoed softened recently when the former Douglas 
County crime lab director sent a letter applauding the senator's efforts to 
repeal capital punishment in Nebraska.

Shortly after the letter was sent, the Legislature narrowly overrode a veto of 
the repeal by Gov. Pete Ricketts. Now death penalty supporters are collecting 
signatures seeking a voter referendum on whether to retain capital punishment.

"I have always abhorred the death penalty," Kofoed wrote in the letter.

Kofoed now lives in North Carolina, where he no longer works in law 
enforcement. His letter listed a series of high-profile homicide investigations 
he worked on, including "a couple of cases that became haunting for me."

Kofoed's work helped convict half of the 10 men currently living in limbo on 
Nebraska's death row: convicted child-killers Arthur Lee Gales and Roy Ellis, 
along with Jose Sandoval, Jorge Galindo and Erick Vela, found guilty of the 
Norfolk bank shootings that left five people dead.

Kofoed also worked on the Kenyatta Bush murder investigation, in which Jeremy 
Sheets spent time on death row before the courts overturned his conviction and 
ordered his release.

Finally, Kofoed reminded the senator about the felony conviction for evidence 
tampering.

"Obviously our justice system is imperfect," he said. "I know this from my own 
experiences. My interest in writing you is to recognize your perseverance. I 
assume that it does not matter to you how I feel, but I am proud of your 
efforts."

In a written response, Chambers said that because he opposes capital 
punishment, it stands to reason he believes in 2nd chances.

"You did what you did," the senator wrote. "The system has done with you what 
it has done. I always have maintained that it's never too late for anybody - 
regardless of what he/she may have done - to stop, turn around and move in the 
right direction."

Chambers asked Kofoed if he could share the letter publicly, saying the former 
investigator was in a position to speak with "a unique moral authority" on the 
death penalty, given his inside experiences and his "fall from Grace."

At the bottom of the typewritten letter, Chambers added a line in his own hand: 
"Who could have predicted we'd have an exchange like this?"

Kofoed gave Chambers permission to release the letter.

In an interview about Kofoed's letter, Chambers said he interpreted the 
reference to being haunted by cases to mean Kofoed was admitting to wrongdoing 
in the Murdock investigation and perhaps others.

Reached by phone, Kofoed, as he has always done, maintained his innocence in 
spite of the evidence-tampering conviction. He pointed out that a jury in a 
federal trial quickly acquitted him, and he argued that he made a tactical 
error in agreeing to allow a judge, not a jury, decide his fate on state 
charges.

He also insisted that he was aware of no misconduct in any of the other 
investigations he listed in the letter, explaining that he was haunted by the 
images he saw of crime scenes, especially those involving child victims.

When asked if he ever shared his anti-death penalty views with other police 
officers, Kofoed said he might have discussed it with close friends, but not in 
general.

As for Chambers' often harsh statements about police, including comparing them 
to Islamic terrorists, Kofoed said, "I don't agree with some of his outrageous 
comments. He's trying to make a point so he gets more attention."

Upon hearing that Kofoed did not intend his letter as a confession, Chambers 
said he's not convinced.

"I don't believe him," Chambers said. "The evidence is so overwhelming, it 
could not have been the way he said."

(source: omaha.com)






COLORADO:

Prosecutors launch last push for James Holmes' execution


The jury in the Colorado theater shooting trial will hear even more 
heart-wrenching testimony Tuesday from those who lost loved ones in the attack, 
as prosecutors begin their final push to have James Holmes sentenced to death..

It comes after jurors rejected arguments Monday that the former neuroscience 
student's mental illness should remove the death penalty as an option. They 
deliberated for less than 3 hours.

"The case for death is only going to get stronger from this point forward," 
said Denver attorney and former prosecutor Craig Silverman. "This jury is not 
going to want to disappoint the families of these victims. ... I'd be very 
surprised if the verdict was anything other than death."

The same jury swiftly rejected Holmes' insanity defense, deciding he was 
capable of telling right from wrong when he opened fire during a Batman movie 
in the Denver suburb of Aurora on July 20, 2012. Their quick decision Monday 
also bodes well for prosecutors, Silverman said.

Other legal experts said there's no way to predict the final decision by the 
nine women and three men who already convicted Holmes of murdering 12 people 
and trying to kill 70 others.

Jurors Monday found simply that Holmes' mental problems and the portrait his 
attorneys painted of a kinder, gentler younger man did not outweigh the horrors 
of his calculated attack on defenseless moviegoers.

This final stage can be more challenging for each juror. To choose capital 
punishment, they must be unanimous, said another Denver defense attorney, Karen 
Steinhauser. Otherwise, Holmes would be sentenced to life in prison without 
parole.

"When jurors have to decide if life or death is an appropriate sentence, 
nothing should be taken as a given," she said. "It's not over yet."

Sandy Phillips, whose daughter Jessica Ghawi was killed, said prosecutors 
advised her that she would testify Tuesday.

"I'm a little overwhelmed, but at the same time, my job is to share Jessie with 
the jury, and I will do that to the best of my ability," she said outside the 
courthouse.

Phillips won't be able to tell jurors that she attended the trial every day in 
honor of her daughter or talk about her effort to change gun laws. Judge Carlos 
A. Samour Jr. set limits on the victims' testimony, saying he would allow 
prosecutors to convey the magnitude of the crime without overwhelming jurors 
with emotion.

For example, speakers will be able to talk about the last time they saw their 
loved ones, but only briefly. Friends of victims can testify, but they can't 
talk about the impact the shooting had on them, Samour said.

"I'm going to be watching the jury closely," Samour said.

As they have throughout the trial, Holmes' lawyers objected to photos and 
testimony they said was repetitive and overly dramatic.

Holmes had been a promising scholar in a demanding neuroscience Ph.D. program 
at the University of Colorado until his life went awry amid the pressures of 
laboratory work. He broke up with his first and only girlfriend and dropped out 
of school, abandoning his longtime goal of becoming a scientist.

He saw a campus psychiatrist but hid the depth of his turmoil from everyone, 
describing it instead in a secret journal where he methodically laid out his 
plans to kill.

Shortly after midnight, he slipped into the premiere of "The Dark Knight 
Rises," stood before the capacity crowd of more than 400 people and opened fire 
with a shotgun, assault rifle and semi-automatic pistol before surrendering to 
police outside.

(source: Associated Press)