[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----GA., LA., CALIF.

[Rick Halperin]

July 6



GEORGIA:

Brandon Conner enters not guilty plea during death penalty hearing Monday

A man accused of murdering his own girlfriend and son enters a not guilty plea 
during a death penalty hearing Monday morning.

Brandon Conner is accused of killing his girlfriend Rosella Mitchell, and their 
6-month-old son, Dylan Conner, then setting the house on fire with the 2 inside 
on August 2014 on Winifred Lane.

Defense attorneys requested 30 days for a status conference. Conner is being 
accused of 2 counts of malice murder, 2 counts of felony murder, aggravated 
battery, 1st-degree arson and possession of a knife during the commission of a 
felony.

The defense asked the judge to give 10 days to make a decision and decide 
whether to file motions, also asked for 30 days for a status conference. The 
status conference is scheduled for Friday, August 7 at 1:30 p.m.

The trial will most likely begin in 2016.

(source: WTVM news)






LOUISIANA:

Man Pleads Not Guilty to Killing New Orleans Officer


A man who police say shot and killed a New Orleans officer despite being 
handcuffed in the back of a police vehicle while being taken to jail pleaded 
not guilty Monday.

Travis Boys, 33, appeared before Judge Karen K. Herman to enter a plea in the 
death of Officer Daryle Holloway. Boys wore a black bulletproof vest over 
orange coveralls and was flanked by 2 Orleans Parish sheriff's deputies as he 
sat and waited for his turn to enter a plea.

Boys did not speak during the brief hearing.

Police are still investigating what happened on the morning of June 20 when 
Boys was being transported from a precinct to central lock-up by Holloway.

Authorities say Boys managed to get his cuffed hands from behind him to the 
front and shoot the officer. They are investigating where Boys got the gun and 
have said it was not the officer's weapon. Boys then managed to crawl into the 
front seat and escape the vehicle, police say.

Boys was caught a day later after an intense manhunt, still wearing his broken 
handcuffs.

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro has rarely asked for the death penalty since 
taking office in 2008 but is pushing for the death penalty in this case.

Following Holloway's shooting, there has been an outpouring of support for an 
officer who was widely praised for his sense of humor and connections with the 
community.

But there also have been questions about how a man who'd been arrested and 
frisked managed to get a gun in the back of a police vehicle, shoot and kill an 
officer and then elude authorities for 24 hours.

Boys' family released a statement of sympathy for Holloway Sunday and thanking 
the dead man's family for their support. During an earlier memorial service for 
Holloway, his mother had asked the crowd to pray for Boys' family.

"We cannot imagine the sorrow and heartache we know Officer Holloway's family 
and children must be feeling, and we are deeply sorry for their loss. We are 
very moved by the grace of Officer Holloway's mother to ask the community to 
hold us in its prayers," said the statement released through Boys' public 
defender on Sunday.

(source: Associated Press)






CALIFORNIA:

S.C. Upholds Death Sentence for Veteran Who Claimed PTSD


The California Supreme Court has unanimously affirmed the death sentence of a 
Vietnam veteran convicted of a triple robbery-murder, rejecting his argument 
that the abuse he suffered as a child, combined with the effects of 
post-traumatic stress disorder, render the penalty excessive.

Justice Kathryn M. Werdegar, writing Thursday for the court, agreed with San 
Bernardino Superior Court Judge Michael A. Smith, who imposed the death 
sentence on John Lee Cunningham, that while Cunningham had a difficult life, 
those experiences were not the root cause of the 1992 murders at Surplus Office 
Sales in Ontario.

The bodies of Jose Silva, an SOS employee; David Smith, the assistant manager; 
and Wayne Sonke, the manager, were found by firefighters responding to a call. 
They found an inactive fire in the office portion of the building; the bodies 
of the 3 men were found in a bathroom.

The men had been bound and shot in the head. Investigators ultimately focused 
on Cunningham, who had previously worked at other businesses owned by SOS owner 
Michael Ray. They traced him to South Dakota, where he was arrested and 
interrogated, after having he picked up his girlfriend in Las Vegas, then drove 
to Atlantic City and then southwest through Arkansas before heading north.

In an audiotaped statements and later a video reenactment, he explained how he 
had robbed and killed the victims. His comments about the crimes were 
interspersed with references to dreams, things he had allegedly done in 
Vietnam, and expressions of relief at being caught.

He waived his right to a jury trial in the guilt phase, during which his 
counsel presented no testimony. Smith found him guilty of 3 counts of 1st 
degree murder, with special circumstances of robbery, burglary, and multiple 
murder, and of 3 counts of robbery and 1 count each of arson, burglary, and 
possession of firearm by a felon.

The judge also found that several enhancements based on prior convictions 
applied.

Jury Selection

A jury was selected for the penalty phase, and heard 34 days of testimony. 
Prosecutors, in addition to presenting evidence regarding the murders 
themselves, showed that Cunningham had past convictions for armed robbery and 
sex offenses against minors.

The defense based its case in mitigation on the defendant???s dysfunctional 
childhood, as well as his Vietnam experiences, including service in 
reconnaissance units responsible for clearing villages not under the control of 
friendly forces. Two experts on PTSD testified, one of whom opined that 
Cunningham suffered from the malady and that he was likely in a dissociative 
state when he committed the SOS murders.

The prosecution, however, brought out evidence that Cunningham had been 
court-martialed multiple time for being AWOL, both before and after his 
deployment; that his platoons had always evacuated the villages they cleared, 
burning the buildings but not harming women and children, whom Cunningham 
claimed haunted his dreams; and that - with the exception of a mortar accident 
in which a medic died - there had been no fatalities in any of the platoons 
while Cunningham served with them.

Prosecutors also cross-examined the 19 veterans whom the defense called to 
explain their own experiences with PTSD, establishing that none of them had 
committed felonies.

Jurors returned a death penalty verdict. Smith denied the automatic motion for 
modification of the verdict, citing the "high degree of cold-blooded 
callousness" with which the crimes were committed, along with the defendant's 
prior record.

'Greatly Attenuated'

The judge acknowledged that Cunningham's military service, his childhood 
problems, and his issues with PTSD were entitled to weight in mitigation, but 
said that weight had been "greatly attenuated" by the passage of time and could 
not outweigh the seriousness of his later crimes.

Werdegar, writing for the Supreme Court, agreed.

Imposing the death sentence for the crimes committed by the defendant, in light 
of all of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, does not "shock[ ] the 
conscience" or "offend[ ] fundamental notions of human dignity," the justice 
wrote.

"Defendant received a death sentence for 3 burglary and robbery murders 
committed by him alone, purely for financial gain, the jurist explained, 
continuing:

"Although the 3 victims cooperated fully with defendant's demands and offered 
no resistance, he nevertheless shot and killed them 1 by 1. He also had an 
extensive prior criminal record including prior prison and jail terms. 
Defendant attempts to mitigate his personal culpability by citing his traumatic 
childhood and Vietnam War experiences and resulting PTSD. We agree with the 
trial court that these circumstances ultimately did not affect defendant's 
capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct 
to the requirements of the law. Defendant's actions at the time of the murders 
showed a rational, logical, intelligent, and calculated thought process, and 
his efforts to destroy evidence and to avoid capture by fleeing across the 
country amply demonstrate his awareness of the wrongfulness of his actions."

The case is People v. Cunningham, 15 S.O.S. 3427.

(source: Metropolitan News Company)