[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MO., OKLA., NEB., NEV., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Aug. 5



MISSOURI:

Which Greene County murder cases could end with a death sentence?
----Prosecutor explains the death penalty is only an option in cases that meet 
certain criteria.


Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson says the death penalty "should be 
reserved for the most heinous of crimes."

2 murder cases that meet that standard - at least for the prosecutor - are 
those of Craig Wood, charged with the rape and murder of 10-year-old Hailey 
Owens, and Diane Staudte, charged with poisoning and killing her husband and 
son with antifreeze.

Patterson explained that his office pursues the death penalty only in murder 
cases that meet certain criteria.

Evidence, witnesses and case law have to be considered. Particularly important 
are "statutory aggravating circumstances."

There are 17 of these circumstances for the crime of 1st-degree murder under 
Missouri law - all of them indicating that the crime was more than just a 
simple killing.

For example, if the murder was committed for the purpose of financial gain, or 
if the victim was a police officer or an elected official - the more of those 
circumstances there are, the more likely the pursuit of the death penalty, 
Patterson said.

Patterson put forward one of those circumstances in the cases for both Wood and 
Staudte: "The murder in the 1st degree was outrageously or wantonly vile, 
horrible or inhuman in that it involved torture, or depravity of mind."

It's more vague than some of the others, but Patterson gave a few general 
examples as to what it could apply to.

"Was the victim aware that they were going to be murdered?" Patterson said, 
explaining that there's a difference between a quick death and a drawn-out 
experience where the victim spends hours knowing they will die. "Was the murder 
committed during a sexual act?"

Wood and Staudte are only 2 of 10 1st-degree murder cases currently open in the 
county.

Patterson agrees it's a lot of cases at once - but says people might read too 
much into the area's crime rate from that.

"I think you make a huge mistake if you use murder cases to look at crime," 
Patterson said.

He explained there are many more common crimes that don't get as much media 
coverage and aren't noticed - and also added that often, murder isn't a crime 
you can take steps to stop.

With that many murder cases open, it's possible the death penalty could be 
brought up in one or more of them in the future.

Who are Craig Wood and Diane Staudte?

Craig Wood

Authorities say Craig Michael Wood kidnapped and murdered 10-year-old Hailey 
Owens on February 18, 2014.

Her body was found wrapped in garbage bags in Wood's basement.

Wood was later charged with rape and sodomy, in addition to charges of murder, 
child kidnapping and armed criminal action. He has pleaded not guilty to all 
counts.

During a recent hearing, the judge approved an agreement between prosecutors 
and defense attorneys to have a jury from Platte County brought to Greene 
County for a trial.

Wood's attorneys have requested a trial date no earlier than March 2016.

Diane Staudte

When Diane Staudte's husband, Mark Staudte, was found dead in April 2012, she 
told police that he'd been feeling poorly, and had 3 seizures earlier that day. 
A medical examiner ruled the death was due to natural causes.

5 months later, Diane Staudte's son, Shaun Staudte, died. Diane Staudte told 
police her son hadn't been feeling well, and didn't have a pulse when she'd 
last checked on him. A medical examiner said death had resulted from prior 
medical issues.

Then, in June of 2013, police say an anonymous caller said that Diane Staudte 
was possibly responsible for the deaths of her husband and son, and the 
hospitalization of her daughter, Sarah Staudte.

Several weeks later, police say Diane Staudte told them during questioning that 
she had put antifreeze in the drinks of both her husband and son, as well as 
her daughter.

She was charged with 2 counts of murder - as was her other daughter, Rachel 
Staudte, who pleaded guilty in May, saying she didn't want to poison her family 
members but did so because her mother told her to.

A trial date has not yet been set for Diane Staudte.

Other 1st-degree murder cases in Greene County

-- Gypsy Blanchard and Nicholas Godejohn

Police say Gypsy asked her boyfriend, Godejohn, to murder her mother, 
Clauddinnea "Dee Dee" Blanchard. Godejohn allegedly stabbed Clauddinnea 
multiple times earlier this summer, and then went to his home in Wisconsin with 
Gypsy. They were found by police shortly afterward.

-- Mark Porter

Porter and Gary Tyrrell were longtime friends and colleagues - until Tyrrell 
refused to loan Porter $250,000 in 2014, according to police. A few days later, 
police say Porter shot and killed Tyrrell, and beat his wife Jan Tyrrell to 
death with an engraved walrus tusk.

Several thousand dollars in silver coins were found missing from the Tyrrell's 
home, and Porter sold more than $18,000 in silver coins shortly after the 
Tyrrells were found dead.

--Scott Goodwin-Bey

Goodwin-Bey is charged in connection to 4 homicides stemming from a Nov. 15 
shooting at an Economy Inn in Springfield. Prosecutors say he believed that the 
victims were informing the police about his use of drugs.

According to police, Goodwin-Bey handed the gun used in the killings to a Kum 
and Go employee 2 weeks later on Nov. 30. The employee contacted police and 
Goodwin-Bey was taken into custody.

In December, a witness who told police he managed to flee the hotel room before 
he could be killed told police that Goodwin-Bey had killed the 4 people at the 
Economy Inn.

-- Jose Huckleberry

Huckleberry is charged with the 2011 murders of Don and Helen Willingham. 
Huckleberry has told police he was at the Willingham's home to "rob" it, and 
also said he "participated" in the killings, although his story has changed 
various times.

Police say Helen Willingham called 911 and said her husband was being assaulted 
by someone. 6 minutes later when deputies arrived, both had been stabbed to 
death.

-- Willie Clark

Police say Clark killed Andrea and Kevin Anderson in February, then fled to 
Arkansas to stay with a woman there. A man who says he played dead after Clark 
shot him contacted authorities, and Clark was arrested by U.S. Marshals 5 days 
later in Arkansas.

-- Lorenzo Roy

Roy is charged with the April 2014 stabbing death of his girlfriend, Jessica 
Conner. Conner was found with blunt force trauma to her face, arms, legs and 
hands, and more than 20 stab wounds. Roy has told police that he hadn't seen 
Conner since they had an argument shortly before her death.

A blood-stained hat found at the crime scene had DNA on it believed to be from 
both Roy and Conner. Surveillance video from a city bus appears to show Roy 
wearing the same hat a day before Conner was found dead.

-- Mohamed Dawod

Authorities say Mohamed Dawod shot Justin Hall to death in 2011 at a 
Springfield bus station, apparently at random.

Dawod told police at the time that he had a limited understanding of English 
and didn't understand his rights.

Dawod was declared incompetent to stand trial in May, although Patterson has 
said if Dawod was ever declared competent, he could be retried on the charges.

(source: Springfield News-Leader)






OKLAHOMA:

Death penalty sought against man accused in baby's death


Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against an Oklahoma City man 
accused of shaking a 3-month-old boy to death.

Brandon Lamont Ross pleaded not guilty on Monday to a charge of 1st-degree 
murder in the death of King Barnes, The Oklahoman (http://bit.ly/1Dqiqkp ) 
reported. Ross has been convicted of child abuse previously and was on 
probation when he was arrested in February in the boy's death.

In August 2010, Ross pleaded guilty in Oklahoma County District Court to 
shaking his 2-month-old daughter about a year earlier. He was released from 
prison on probation in July 2013.

Prosecutors filed a court document on Monday, saying they will seek the death 
penalty against Ross and also noted his previous conviction.

Special Judge Fred Doak found sufficient evidence last month to order Ross to 
trial for the alleged crime. The boy's mother testified that she and Ross had 
been living together at the time of the child's death and dating since late 
2013.

Ross told police that he had left the baby, whom he isn't the father of, alone 
in the residence while he went shopping for 20 minutes and returned to find the 
boy not breathing. Police said Ross told them the home was ransacked, but the 
boy's mother testified she didn't notice anything missing from the home.

Dr. Ryan Brown testified as a witness for the prosecution and said King's 
injuries were the result of abuse, not an accident. He said the injuries were 
consistent with shaking, and noted the swelling of King's brain.

The state medical examiner had ruled King's death a homicide caused by head 
trauma. Other contributing factors mentioned in the medical examiner's report 
were multiple "healing" rib fractures.

A pretrial date has been set for September.

(source: Associated Press)

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

Don Knight, one of Richard Glossip's attorneys will a guest on Oklahoma City's 
EVE's radio show this Thursday at 4pm. This is a live show and there is a 
rebroadcast Friday at 3pm.

KTLV 1220 AM----Streaming at http://www.ktlv1220.com/index.htm 
[www.ktlv1220.com]

Also, Sister Helen Prejean and Susan Sarandan will be on CNN on Friday at 11 am 
central time. http://www.cnn.com/shows/legal-view

(source: OkAI--RG)






NEBRASKA:

Fearmongering in Nebraska: how the death penalty lobby fights progress


The Nebraska legislature recently abolished the death penalty, overriding a 
veto by the state's governor, Pete Ricketts. Nebraska has only executed 3 
people since the Supreme Court upheld new death penalty laws in 1976 - the last 
execution was nearly 2 decades ago in 1997.

Partly because of that lack of use and with only 10 people on death row, 
Republicans and Democrats in Nebraska's legislature concluded the death penalty 
constituted wasteful and ineffective public policy. The conservative state thus 
joined 18 other states (and Washington DC) that do not sentence people to 
death. 6 of those states have ended the practice since 2004.

But the Nebraska vote has not ended the death penalty debate. Even as the 
legislature was considering the repeal, Ricketts was purchasing drugs for 
lethal injections. Then, after the legislature overrode his veto, he announced 
he was "appalled" and would still proceed with executing those on the state's 
death row.

A group called "Nebraskans for the Death Penalty", headed by 3 politicians 
connected to the governor, formed and began seeking a statewide voter 
referendum to bring back the death penalty.

Nebraska governor Pete Ricketts wants to override the state ban on executions.

Those who hoped to reverse the action of the legislature used language to scare 
voters. Ricketts referred to a murderer who was released from prison and then 
had sexually assaulted a young girl, warning: "There is no guarantee that 
convicted murderers will stay behind bars for life or not harm other innocent 
victims." Meanwhile, 1 of the 19 Nebraska senators who had voted to keep the 
death penalty posted a photograph on his Facebook page of a woman's mutilated 
corpse as an argument for capital punishment.

There was no logical connection between the crimes mentioned and the death 
penalty. The governor did not recognise that few murderers get executed - and 
the senator did not even know whether or not his Facebook photo was from a real 
crime. But it did not matter. Such arguments have been stirring our fears and 
causing politicians to make bad policy decisions about the death penalty for 
centuries.

Revenge killing

A normal first human reaction to a horrible crime is to desire vengeance on the 
perpetrator - and some of the pro-death penalty arguments in Nebraska sought to 
amplify that reflex. But, aside from the issue of whether human rights issues 
should be subject to popular vote, the question remains whether a state's 
policy should be dictated by anger and fear - or whether representatives should 
be more measured as they weigh the pros and cons of criminal justice policy.

The Nebraska legislature took the latter approach by focusing on concerns such 
as the cost of maintaining an expensive and rarely used punishment that creates 
a risk of executing an innocent person. But much of the reaction to the vote 
has been driven by politics of fear.

Hope for progress

The past decade is not the first time spell that has seen US states abandoned 
the death penalty - states abolished capital punishment during other periods 
too, including 1846-1953, 1907-1917 and 1957-1965.

There are several reasons why states and countries abolish the death penalty. 
Often they are guided by progressive leaders. In the early 1980s in France, 
Francois Mitterrand ran for president as an opponent of capital punishment and 
then oversaw the abolition of the death penalty.

Leaders in other countries and at the United Nations have also played important 
roles in educating the public about capital punishment. Similarly, several US 
governors led their states in getting rid of the death penalty.

As in Nebraska, sometimes there is a backlash to abolition. In some cases, 
states have brought back capital punishment, often driven by fears stoked by 
politicians relating to a specific crime or by fears of certain groups of 
people. Often, politicians believe that stirring up fears can help them get 
elected - 1 famous example occurred in 1988 when the then vice-president, 
George H W Bush, highlighted his presidential opponent's opposition to the 
death penalty in a TV commercial featuring the mug shot of a black man 
convicted of murder.

Those trying to reinstate the death penalty will continue to focus on our 
fears. Such political posturing often digresses from genuine policy concerns. 
In my book Imprisoned by the Past, I reason that if the United States did not 
have a history with capital punishment, states would not design the death 
penalty we have.

This government system takes the lives of its citizens based on information 
that is imperfect and biased. Yet, several US states and a minority of 
countries still cling to a practice because of inertia and because some leaders 
believe they benefit from fear.

The trend in the past 50 years has consistently proceeded toward limiting 
executions around the world. Still, it is not surprising if there are setbacks 
- after all, history does not travel in a straight line. So we may not know if 
Nebraska will have the death penalty next year. But the state will eventually 
stop using capital punishment, because progress ultimately overrides the 
politics of fear.

(source: The Conversation)



NEVADA:

Prosecutors make case for death penalty in Jeremiah Bean murder trial


The sentencing phase in the high-profile Jeremiah Bean murder trial got 
underway Tuesday morning in Yerington; and Lyon County prosecutors tried to 
convince the jury that Jeremiah Bean should get the death penalty.

Bean was convicted last week of 1st degree murder in the deaths of 5 people.

Prosecutors said the deaths happened in and near Fernley during a crime spree 
committed by Bean in May of 2013.

Prosecutor Jeremy Reickenberg spoke of several "aggravating" factors as reasons 
why Bean should receive the death penalty.

In addition to the murders, Reickenberg said the deaths happened during the 
commission of very serious crimes including burglary, arson and robbery.

Defense attorney Richard Davies argued Bean's life should be spared; he said 
jurors will hear testimony about Bean's difficult childhood, low IQ, and 
addiction to drugs.

Jurors are expected to hear from Bean's family on why Bean should live as well 
as the victims' families during this phase of the trial.

(source: Fox News)






USA:

Without death penalty, prison guards have no protection


Re "Life sentence is no deterrent to prison lifers" (Opinions, July 26): By 
denying the death penalty by our so-called judges in this country, the 
so-called justice system just dropped the last line of defense.

We are showing inmates across our country, quite literally, that they can get 
away with murder. But then again, that's our justice system in a nutshell. It's 
getting so bad it's even dipped into the small-claims court. I don't know where 
this is going to take this wonderful country of ours. All I can say is "God 
save us!"

Michael Rey Gascon, Modesto

(source: Letter to the Editor, Modesto Bee)