[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.C., FLA., TENN., COLO., WASH.

[Rick Halperin]

July 30



NORTH CAROLINA:

N.C. wants easier, more secretive executions


The national debate over capital punishment has proceeded in a variety of 
disparate directions, with some states deciding to end the practice altogether. 
But in North Carolina, the Republican-led legislature has apparently concluded 
that the status quo on executions needs to be tweaked in a more alarming way - 
making it easier for the state to kill people with greater secrecy.

With little debate, the North Carolina Senate voted along party lines 33-16 
Monday night to approve a bill aimed at restarting executions in the state.

The legislation, House Bill 774, would repeal the current law requiring that a 
physician be present to monitor all executions .... The bill would also remove 
from public record the names of companies that make, supply or deliver the 
drugs used in lethal injection, and it would exempt the execution protocol 
itself from the oversight of the state's Rules Review Commission.

There would be no public oversight of the protocol, nor would that information 
- from the types of drugs to the doses to the sequence - be required to be made 
public.

According to local reports, North Carolina hasn't been able to kill any of its 
prisoners since 2006, in large part because doctors in the state balked, 
creating a de facto moratorium.

So, GOP state lawmakers determined that if state law requires doctors to 
oversee executions, and doctors won't go along, it's time to change the law so 
that doctors need only sign the death certificate after the execution takes 
place. Instead, the new state law would allow physician assistants, nurse 
practitioners, or EMTs to monitor the executions.

As for the secrecy, North Carolina has a Public Records Act, but this new push 
would create an exception to the state law - when North Carolina kills 
prisoners with a chemical cocktail, the contents can be kept secret. The names 
of the pharmaceutical companies that supply the drugs will also be hidden from 
public scrutiny.

The name of the legislation is the "Restoring Proper Justice Act," apparently 
because its sponsors' sense of humor leans towards the macabre.

A report from the News & Observer added that the state House, which also has a 
Republican majority, has already approved a similar measure, but the 2 versions 
will have to be reconciled and passed in each chamber.

Gov. Pat McCrory (R) has not yet said whether he intends to sign the bill. The 
state currently has 148 people who've been sentenced to death.

(source: MSNBC news)






FLORIDA:

Jury recommends 3rd death sentence for Dontae Morris


After viewing the dashboard video of Dontae Morris murdering 2 police officers 
and hearing pleas for his life, a jury took less than an hour today to 
recommend a judge give Morris his 3rd death sentence.

The quick 10-2 vote contrasted with the 14 hours over 3 days it took for the 
jury to convict Morris of murdering Derek Anderson, 21, just 42 days before he 
killed Tampa police officers David Curtis and Jeffrey Kocab during a traffic 
stop on June 29, 2010.

Until Thursday morning, jurors had been shielded from information about Morris' 
other crimes. But in its bid to secure a death sentence, the prosecution 
presented evidence of Morris' previous convictions in the officers' murders, as 
well as the murder of another man, Rodney Jones.

Jurors were not told that Morris still awaits trial on charges he murdered a 
5th victim, Harold Wright. Assistant State Attorney Scott Harmon told Circuit 
Judge William Fuente the prosecution will not decide whether to seek a death 
sentence in the Wright case until after Fuente imposes a sentence in the 
Anderson murder.

In Florida, juries merely recommend whether to sentence defendants to death. 
The ultimate decision is the judge's, following another hearing in which the 
defense can present further evidence. Fuente did not schedule the hearing, but 
set a status hearing for Sept. 4.

Derek Anderson's mother, Wanda Gilchrist, said she was relieved Morris got a 
death sentence, but that she would have been happy with life without parole, 
the only other option.

"It's been a long f years," Gilchrist said. "I just miss my son so much."

She said her son was getting ready to go to Hillsborough Community College to 
study computers when he was killed. "My son was a good son," she said. "He 
never bothered anybody."

Defense lawyer Byron Hileman said the defense team was disappointed by the 
sentence recommendation of the jury, but felt the 10-2 vote was a "moral 
victory for us because 12-0 was entirely possible."

The split in the vote also preserves an appeal issue over Florida's law 
permitting death sentences without requiring juries to be unanimous, Hileman 
said.

The defense faced an uphill battle in seeking to persuade jurors to spare the 
life of a client who stood convicted of four murders, including the officers 
whose killings were video recorded.

Acknowledging the evidence showed Morris doesn't respect human life, Hileman 
urged jurors in his closing statement to rely on their own values and spare the 
convicted killer.

The jury was not told of the other sentences already handed down by juries. And 
it was not informed that Morris is charged with murdering Wright.

After convicting Morris of Anderson's murder on Wednesday, jurors were shaken 
Thursday morning when shown the dashboard video of Morris shooting Curtis and 
Kocab. When the gunshot rang out as Morris was asked to step outside his 
girlfriend's car during a traffic stop, some jurors jumped in their seats.

Afterward, jurors could be seen weeping, using tissues to wipe their eyes and 
cheeks.

The video was shown by the prosecution over the repeated objections of the 
defense. Hileman called it "the most inflammatory evidence in a penalty phase 
I've ever seen."

But Fuente allowed the video to be shown to support the prosecution's argument 
that Morris should be sentenced to death on the grounds he was previously 
convicted of the 3 other murders, as well as the attempted robbery of Jones.

In his summation, Harmon showed jurors photographs of the 4 victims in the 
cases in which Morris has been convicted. "These photographs are simply 
echoes," Harmon said. "These are echoes of what once was. 4 human beings. 4 
men, clearly in the prime of their lives. 4 men who aren't with us anymore. 4 
men who were taken during that very short time period, that horrible awful 
42-day crime period, when that stone-cold killer unleashed that murderous crime 
spree on this city.

"To Dontae Morris, these 4 precious human beings were simply targets. They were 
targets - targets of opportunity, targets of domination and targets that got in 
the way between him and his freedom from paying for his crimes."

Harmon told jurors they should decide "whether this defendant should have the 
same eternal sentence that he inflicted on" the 4 men.

The defense presented testimony that Morris was good to his family members, 
including his 9-year-old son, Dontae Jr.

Angela Murphy, the mother of Dontae Jr., testified Morris cared for him and her 
other children and bought them gifts, including bicycles. She said Morris would 
often give money to homeless people, telling her, "You never knew who god was 
sending you."

Asked by Harmon what kind of work Morris did to get the money to give away, 
Murphy said she didn't know.

Hileman implored jurors to show mercy in their sentence recommendation to the 
judge.

"There is no way that I'm going to stand here and try to defend what Dontae 
Morris did," Hileman said. "It is clear... that Dontae Morris did not have 
respect for life. But that isn't the end of the questioning. The question is it 
appropriate in this case, based on your own values, for you to have respect for 
life, whether he did or not. That's what you have to decide."

Hileman urged jurors to uphold the sanctity of "all human life," adding, 
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive 
out hate. Only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate; violence multiplies 
violence in a descending spiral of destruction."

The defense lawyer implored the jurors to "look to the future and say, 'Let the 
killing stop here. Let it stop here.'"

(source: The Tampa Tribune)






TENNESSEE:

Death penalty motions expected soon in Carter County double-murder case


A man charged with the brutal murder of a Sullivan County couple returned to 
court Thursday morning.

Eric Azotea is accused of shooting Amber Terrell and Art Gibson, stabbing them, 
cutting up their bodies and burning them.

In court Thursday, District Attorney Tony Clark told the judge he intends to 
file a motion seeking the death penalty within a week.

Azotea's public defender's office had a possible conflict of interest because 
they had previously represented a victim in the case.

The judge appointed Steve Finney to represent Azotea.

Motions are set for Aug. 24.

(source: WJHL news)






COLORADO:

Not a killing state: Is Colorado prepared for the death penalty?


The majority of Coloradans want their state to kill James Holmes. But if he 
receives the death penalty, the Department of Corrections may not be ready.

Convicted murderer James Holmes is now awaiting his sentence.

He faces the death penalty for his crimes, a punishment 2/3 of Coloradans 
believe he deserves.

But lethal injection drugs are increasingly hard to obtain. If the jury 
sentences Holmes to death, is Colorado actually capable of carrying it out?

Like all 31 states that still allow capital punishment, Colorado uses lethal 
injection as its primary means of execution. But it almost never happens: The 
1997 death of Gary Lee Davis remains the state???s only execution in almost 50 
years, and the only time Colorado has ever performed a lethal injection. We 
are, in the words of death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean, "not a 
killing state."

The Colorado Department of Corrections, tasked with performing executions, 
doesn't even keep drugs for the procedure on hand. Their shelf life is less 
than the average 10 years it takes for a death penalty appeals process.

In March of 2013, 5 months before death row inmate Nathan Dunlap was scheduled 
for execution, The Denver Post reported that CDOC was still struggling to 
acquire a crucial drug.

Tom Clements, CDOC's then-director, wrote a letter to 97 compounding pharmacies 
across the state in an attempt to acquire sodium thiopental, a rapid-onset 
anesthetic critical to the state's lethal 3-drug cocktail.

Clements sought the pharmacies' help because the drug is now nearly impossible 
to find ready-made. Hospira Inc, the only producer in the nation, stopped 
making it in 2011. The E.U. has blocked its export for use in executions. But 
compounding pharmacies are less than eager. In March this year, the American 
Pharmacists Association called upon its members to stop providing any drugs for 
use in executions.

In light of Clements' letter, the ACLU in 2013 submitted an open records 
request to CDOC asking for a copy of its execution protocol. (The agency 
initially didn't comply, forcing the ACLU to file a lawsuit.)

What they found was troubling. Colorado law demands lethal injection be 
administered with "a lethal quantity of sodium thiopental or other equally or 
more effective substance sufficient to cause death."

The protocol from 2011 calls for Sodium Pentothal, the name brand of sodium 
thiopental. But the 2013 protocol, with no change in state law, calls for 
"Sodium Pentothal/Pentobarbital," implying that the 2 are interchangeable 
despite being 2 different drugs. (When pentobarbital was used in the 2014 
Oklahoma execution of Michael Wilson, he reportedly said he felt his "whole 
body burning.")

Colorado is not the only state scrambling for alternatives. Oklahoma, Tennessee 
and Utah have authorized the use of the gas chamber, electrocution and the 
firing squad, respectively, if lethal injection drugs become unavailable. And 
the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that midazolam, the controversial drug 
linked to multiple botched or prolonged executions across the country, is 
constitutional for use in lethal injections.

Ultimately, the ACLU's investigation came to a halt when Gov. John Hickenlooper 
granted Dunlap an indefinite stay of execution. But the discrepancy between 
protocol and state law raises concerns about the secrecy that goes along with 
lethal injection.

How can the public stay informed about the death penalty when no organization 
will publicly admit to selling the drugs? How do we determine what drugs count 
as an "equally or more effective substance to cause death" without being able 
to properly test them?

Gov. Hickenlooper's stay of execution for Dunlap means the state, at least for 
now, isn't actively seeking out lethal injection drugs. His office didn't 
return requests for comment, but the governor has said publicly that he will 
not allow an execution during his term. The other 2 men on death row will not 
exhaust their appeals for years.

If sentenced to death, James Holmes can expect the appeals process to take 10 
years or more.

By that time, Colorado's lethal injection protocol - and indeed, its stance on 
the death penalty - could look quite different.

(source: The Colorado Independent)

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

Testimony: Parents Surprised Their Son Was Aurora Theater Gunman


The parents of convicted shooter James Holmes took the stand in the sentencing 
phase of the trial. They told the Colorado jury that their son is mentally ill 
and should not receive the death penalty.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Before deciding whether to approve the death penalty for James Holmes, the 
members of a jury listened. They listened to witnesses in the last phase of his 
trial for killing a dozen people at an Aurora Colorado theater.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And the final witness was the mother of the gunman. Ben Markus of Colorado 
Public Radio was listening too.

BEN MARKUS, BYLINE: Arlene Holmes took the stand, sitting just 10 feet from her 
son in court. She told the jury he was a kind and thoughtful child.

ARLENE HOLMES: He never harmed anyone, ever - ever, until July 20, 2012.

MARKUS: She said he was socially awkward growing up, always did well in school, 
liked to play video games - maybe a bit too much - but otherwise was normal. 
She said she still loved him and that he's mentally ill.

A. HOLMES: Schizophrenia chose him. He didn't choose it. And I still love my 
son.

MARKUS: After James Holmes failed out of grad school and was dumped by his 
girlfriend, he told his psychiatrist he wanted to kill people. His mother was 
asked what she would have done had the psychiatrist told her that.

A. HOLMES: I would have been crawling on all fours to get to him. He's never 
said that he wanted to kill people. She didn't - she didn't - she didn't tell 
me. She didn't tell me.

MARKUS: Earlier, Robert Holmes, the defendant's father, testified that when he 
first heard about the attack, he thought his son must have been shot.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: You thought that Jim was the victim?

ROBERT HOLMES: Yeah, I had never - it didn't occur to me that he would be the 
shooter.

MARKUS: He and others often referred to the defendant as Jimmy during 
testimony. And many photos and family videos were shown to the jury. Former 
prosecutor Karen Steinhauser says Holmes's attorneys are attempting to humanize 
him.

KAREN STEINHAUSER: And it is a very tall task in light of the horrific nature 
of this crime.

MARKUS: The sentencing hearing, in which jurors weigh death or life in prison 
for James Holmes, continues today. For NPR News, I'm Ben Markus in Denver.

(source: NPR)

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

Theater Shooting Trial----Attorneys prepare for closing arguments in Aurora 
theater shooting trial; Day 60 of the Aurora theater shooting trial


On their 60th day in court, jurors in the Aurora theater shooting trial will 
take their seats Thursday and hear lawyers make closing arguments in the 2nd 
sentencing phase.

The question before jurors will be whether the things that make the Aurora 
movie theater murders so heinous - the lengthy planning, the calculated 
shooting, the enormous suffering - outweigh the details about James Holmes' 
life that suggest mercy: his diagnosed mental illness, his trouble-free youth, 
his otherwise clean record.

Judge Carlos Samour Jr. met in court with attorneys on Thursday morning to 
discuss instructions for the jury. Samour began instructing the jurors at about 
12:35 p.m. Defense attorney Tamara Brady will get 40 minutes to deliver her 
closing arguments first, followed by District Attorney George Brauchler. Jurors 
will then deliberate.

Holmes told the judge on Wednesday that he will not testify or address the 
jury.

The same 12 jurors convicted Holmes earlier this month of murdering 12 people 
and wounding 70 others in the July 20, 2012 attack on the Century Aurora 16 
movie theater complex.

In the 1st penalty phase, jurors found that prosecutors proved the aggravating 
factors necessary to consider a death sentence.

In this 2nd penalty phase, jurors have heard from the gunman's parents, former 
neighbors and friends who offered mitigating factors.

Only if jurors unanimously agree that the "aggravating" factors outweigh the 
"mitigating" factors will the sentencing phase of the trial move forward to its 
final step. In that last step, relatives of those killed inside the theater 
will be allowed to testify about the shooting's impact on them, and jurors will 
make the final decision on the death penalty.

But, if even one juror favors mercy at the current step, the trial will be 
over. Holmes would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of 
parole.

(source: The Denver Post)






WASHINGTON:

Is Washington moving away from the death penalty?


King County has already seen 2 death row trials full of gruesome details this 
year, but there won't be a 3rd.

Michele Anderson's would have been next. Her trial will proceed, but it won't 
be a capital case. She and her former boyfriend Joseph McEnroe are charged with 
6 counts of aggravated murder for killing her family in Carnation in 2007. 
Among the victims, her 3 and 5-year-old niece and nephew.

2 months ago, a jury decided against execution for Joseph McEnroe.

Now, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg says he won't seek the death penalty 
against Anderson. Why? It comes back to McEnroe's crimes.

"The evidence in that case revealed that McEnroe fired the fatal shot in 5 of 
the 6 murders," Satterberg said. "McEnroe fatally shot Wayne Anderson and Judy 
Anderson in their home as they prepared for the holiday. He then took the lead 
in hiding the bodies and setting the trap for the next victims."

Satterberg says it was McEnroe who opted to shoot the kids. Now, he says, he 
won't go after a worse punishment for Anderson, someone whose crimes were equal 
to but not worse than McEnroe's.

Satterberg brought reporters into a courthouse conference room Wednesday for 
the announcement, just days after the Christopher Monfort verdict was read 3 
floors below, on July 23. He's charged with murdering Seattle police officer 
Timothy Brenton in 2009.

That verdict was unusual. A unanimous life-in-prison decision in a death 
penalty case is rare and the Monfort case may be the only time it's happened in 
Washington state.

Right after the verdict came out, one of Monfort's defense attorneys, Carl 
Luer, said he was relieved his client got life in prison, but he wished the 
jurors wouldn't have had to go through the ordeal of deliberations.

"The Prosecutor Mr. Satterberg had the opportunity to resolve the case fairly 
early on with a life sentence [and] chose not to do that. So hopefully, going 
forward, that will have some influence on his decision-making in the future on 
whether to seek the death penalty."

Satterberg says the Monfort verdict had nothing to do with his decision on 
Anderson, but he does say he's open to a bigger conversation about the death 
penalty in Washington state.

"Other states have recently reviewed their law. I think it's every third of a 
century or so to go back and look at these old policies and say, 'is this still 
what we want?' is an appropriate thing for people to do, but that's not what 
I'm launching today."

Activists against the death penalty say Satterberg's decision is a sign that 
elected officials are moving away from the death penalty.

Danielle Fulfs, Program Director of the Washington Coalition to Abolish the 
Death Penalty, says it's happening both nationally and locally.

"With these three cases that have been incredibly high profile cases for years 
now, for them to not result in death," she says. "I think it's indicative of 
the fact that as a society, we're moving away from it, but also we've seen 
strengthening support from both sides of the aisle down in Olympia."

Ultimately, dropping the pursuit of the death penalty against Anderson is what 
surviving family members wanted and Satterberg says their wishes also played a 
role in his decision. It's been 7 1/2 years since the murders and some told 
Satterberg they just wanted to move on.

(source: mynorthwest.com)