[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., S.C., GA., MISS., OHIO

[Rick Halperin]

June 20



PENNSYLVANIA:

Keeping a justice fight alive----As his ancestor before him, he aims to clear 
youth executed long ago.



Samuel Lemon clutched a small bouquet of white carnations as he trudged last 
week amid the weeds in an abandoned Delaware County cemetery, sidestepping 
shallow grave depressions and fallen tombstones.

Somewhere under the tall grass and thistle in Chester Township lies the body of 
Alexander McClay Williams, an African American teen executed 84 years ago for a 
murder Lemon is convinced he didn't commit.

The Neumann University administrator has spent more than three decades 
collecting evidence he hopes will exonerate Williams. Among the pieces are 
records that suggest local officials failed to consider another possible 
suspect in the killing and might have decided to blame the teen for the murder, 
then tricked or coerced a confession from him.

"He didn't have the motive. He didn't have the time. He didn't have the 
ability," Lemon said.

The quest is as much personal as it is scholarly.

It was Lemon's great-grandfather, a defense lawyer named William H. Riley, who 
tried - and failed - to keep Williams off death row for the Oct. 3, 1930, 
stabbing of Vida Robare, a white matron at the Glen Mills School for Boys.

A 'troubled' kid

Born in July 1914 into a family of 13 children, Williams grew up poor in a 
6-room house in Middletown Township. The family raised pigs and chickens and 
used an outhouse, according to Susie Carter, his younger sister, now 85. Their 
mother would read to their father, a mushroom worker who was illiterate.

Williams stood 4 feet 7 inches tall and weighed 91 pounds when he was sent to 
the school in 1926 for setting a fire that caused $25,000 in damage to a barn 
and livestock, according to school records.

"He was a really troubled kid," said Lemon. "But, there was no record that he 
had ever been violent."

Lemon found that Williams had stolen 110 tins of boot polish at the school. He 
suspects the boy was addicted to huffing it.

On the Friday she was killed, Robare, 34, was resting in a bedroom of a cottage 
on school grounds where she lived with her son, Dale, 10. Her ex-husband, Fred, 
also lived there or nearby.

The Robares were from small Michigan towns where the family was known for 
drinking, fighting, and domestic abuse, according to their great-niece, Theresa 
Smithers, 59, from Watervliet, Mich.

Fred and Vida Robare had divorced in November 1921 after five years of 
marriage. According to Smithers, who found the divorce records while 
researching her family tree, Vida had cited "extreme cruelty" by her husband as 
a reason for divorce - a fact that Lemon said never emerged publicly during the 
investigation into her death.

On the day she died, the 48 boys in her care were in class or working in the 
fields and not due back for hours. Authorities determined that the athletic 
house mother was attacked in her bedroom between 1:30 and 4 p.m. She was 
stabbed 47 times with an ice pick, 2 of her ribs were broken, and her skull was 
fractured. Her body was found partially clothed on her bed.

A bloody handprint was on the wallpaper near the door. A wristwatch and $15 
were on the bureau. But her key ring was missing, which authorities believed 
the killer took and used to escape from a basement door.

Initially, authorities did not suspect the boys.

"This crime was committed by a full grown and strong man. The woman was 
unmistakably athletic and could have fought off a boy," Chief County Detective 
Oliver N. Smith was quoted as saying in a Chester Times article the day after 
the murder.

The Glen Mills superintendent, Major H.B. Hickman, told the newspaper: "I do 
not suspect any of our boys of having committed this sickening crime."

Said Lemon: "There was no way this little pip-squeak [Williams] could have done 
that level of damage against this strong woman."

But Williams was charged.

Altered forms

In his research, Lemon obtained a copy of the death certificate, dated Oct. 4, 
1930.

On it, someone had written "caused by an ice pick in the hands of Alexander 
McClay Williams" after the cause of death, although in a different ink.

Williams didn't confess until 3 days later, according to published reports. 
There is no record of what led to the confession. The teen had been on a work 
detail at the school and was sent to get shovels about the same time Vida 
Robare was killed, Lemon said.

In his confession, Williams allegedly told police he wanted to rape the victim 
to get even with Fred Robare for alleged "ill treatment," according to news 
reports at the time.

But in a separate confession to authorities, the teen allegedly admitted 
breaking into the house to steal boot polish, hearing the victim upstairs, 
grabbing an ice pick, and stabbing Vida Robare about "20 to 25 times." He wiped 
off his hands so he wouldn't leave prints, according to published reports.

A judge appointed Lemon's great-grandfather to represent Williams. William 
Ridley, the son of runaway slaves, had been the first African American lawyer 
admitted to the Delaware County bar.

After a 2-day trial, a jury of nine women and 3 men found Williams guilty. 
Ridley did not try to argue innocence or offer an alibi but instead gave an 
"impassioned plea" to save his client from death row.

According to his sister, Williams shouted out in court after the sentence was 
announced that he had been promised he wouldn't be executed if he confessed to 
the killing.

He was put to death June 8, 1931, at Rockville Prison in Bellefonte, Pa.

Carter said Williams' family always believed he was railroaded. "They did that 
to black people then," she said.

It's not a far-fetched theory, according to Robert Dunham, executive director 
of the Death Penalty Information Center.

He said Williams was particularly vulnerable to flaws in the justice system 
because of his age, mental status, family situation, and because he was accused 
of an interracial murder. "The history of the death penalty is inextricably 
intertwined with the history of race relations in the United States," Dunham 
said.

Smithers believes Vida Robare was killed by her ex-husband in a crime of 
passion.

According to Lemon's research, Fred Robare was the last person to see her alive 
and the first to discover her body. But even those details are murky.

In a Chester Times article from the time, Fred Robare said he had returned to 
the cottage at 5 p.m. with 11 boys and found the door unlocked. But a Michigan 
paper reported that he told his parents he was alone when he found the body.

After the killing, Fred Robare left his son with relatives in Minnesota and 
moved to Baltimore. Later, he remarried and moved to Los Angeles.

He died in 1953.

Seeking another look

Exonerating Williams and vacating his conviction might be difficult under 
Pennsylvania law because the teen is already dead, said Michael Wiseman, a 
Philadelphia attorney who specializes in capital cases. But it might be 
possible to ask for a posthumous pardon from the Board of Pardons and Parole or 
to get Williams' records expunged, he said.

Lemon, who holds a doctorate in education and is a director in Neumann's 
division of continuing and adult studies, has enlisted his cousin, Enrique 
Latoison, a Delaware County defense attorney. Latoison said he plans to file a 
motion to bring the case before a judge. "I will at least have my day in court 
to discuss reopening the case," Latoison said.

Among those in Lemon's corner is Robare's great-niece. She said she wanted the 
truth to come out.

"I had gone years wondering if anyone else saw this as a crime of domestic 
violence," Smithers said. "I want to right a wrong if it can be done."

(source: philly.com)








SOUTH CAROLINA:

SC gov: State to seek death penalty against Charleston suspect



South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) condemned Wednesday night's Charleston, 
S.C., church shooting as a "hate crime" and pledged that the state will seek 
the death penalty against accused killer Dylann Storm Roof.

"These are 9 families that are struggling; this is a state that is hurt by the 
fact that 9 people innocently were killed, we will absolutely want him to have 
the death penalty," Haley said Friday morning on NBC's "Today."

"This is the worst hate that I???ve seen and the country has seen in a long 
time. We will fight this, and we will fight this as hard as we can."

Roof, who is white, is suspected of carrying out the shooting. He allegedly 
waited at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church for an hour during 
Bible study before opening fire on the congregants in the historically black 
church.

Witnesses say his motives appeared to be racial, and photos later emerged of 
Roof wearing a jacket with the flags of apartheid-era South Africa and colonial 
Rhodesia, both of which engaged in segregation.

Authorities arrested Roof in North Carolina on Thursday morning.

South Carolina is one of the 31 states with the death penalty, according to the 
Death Penalty Information Center. The state could prosecute Roof under state 
crimes, leaving state prosecutors with the option of seeking the death penalty 
in his case.

Roof also crossed state lines in fleeing his alleged crimes and is being 
investigated for violating federal hate crime laws, so he could also be tried 
on federal charges. Federal prosecutors still seek the death penalty in certain 
cases, including the recent conviction of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar 
Tsarnaev.

Haley also pushed back against President Obama's calls for the nation to 
readdress its gun policies in the wake of the tragedy.

"Anytime there is a traumatic situation, people want something to blame; they 
always want something to go after. There's one person to blame here, a person 
filled with hate, a person that does not define South Carolina," she said.

"I know President Obama had his job to do when he made those statements, but my 
job is to now get the state to heal, and our focus very much is on those 9 
families, it's on the Mother Emanuel Church family, it's on the AME family and 
it's on the people of South Carolina."

(source: thehill.com)

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

Prosecutor says it's too early to talk death penalty, despite calls from 
governor



Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said Friday afternoon that it???s too 
early for discussions about the death penalty, despite calls from Gov. Nikki 
Haley for the accused gunman to face execution in the fatal shootings at 
Emanuel AME Church.

"My 1st obligation is to these victims' families. They deserve to know the 
facts first; they deserve to be involved in any conversation involving the 
death penalty," Wilson said. "Now is not the time to have those conversations 
with them. They need the time and the space to mourn and to grieve and we're 
going to give them that."

Dylann Storm Roof, 21, of Eastover is accused of going to the Calhoun Street 
church on Wednesday night and opening fire, killing 9 people who were attending 
a Bible study.

"We will seek the death penalty," Haley said outside the church Friday morning. 
"You will absolutely pay the price.

"This is pure hate."

The FBI has said that it was investigating the shooting as a hate crime. Roof 
is white. The victims were black.

"There's a very evil kid out there that we need to blame," Haley said. "I 
talked to my investigators (Thursday) and they looked pure evil in the eye."

Roof was flown to Charleston on Thursday night after he was captured earlier in 
the day in Shelby, N.C.

He remained in Charleston County's jail Friday morning.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said in a separate news conference Friday that he 
isn't a proponent of the death penalty.

"That's law in South Carolina, so it no doubt will be," he said. "I think if 
you're going to have a death penalty, then certainly this case merits."

Wilson did not say much regarding the prosecution of the case, instead vowing 
to work quietly "behind the scenes" to deliver justice.

"As chief prosecutor, I'm not here to pontificate (or) convict, there are many 
who will and already have done that for you, I'm sure," she said. "As for me 
and my staff, we will serve. We will serve justice."

She said that her office is working closely with the Department of Justice and 
that information would not be as free-flowing as it was in previous days.

"As we move through this prosecution, the rules are different than when we have 
an investigation and we have an emergency situation," she explained. "The rules 
limit what I can say, what I should say, and I intend to abide by those rules."

Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen echoed her sentiments and said the 
department would only be as transparent and open as the ongoing investigation 
allows.

"We're not going to be able to give out information as quickly and as freely as 
we were yesterday (Thursday)," he said. "Our role now and our primary focus now 
is a successful prosecution, and we're not going to jeopardize that by 
releasing information prematurely."

In her comments outside the church, Haley said it was her job to pull the 
people of the Palmetto State back together.

"The grief is overwhelming," she said. "But you know we are a strong state and 
we???ll get through this."

(source: Charleston Post and Courier)

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

South Carolina's Complicated Relationship With the Death Penalty



If prosecutors convict Dylann Storm Roof and then seek the death penalty - and 
despite calls from Governor Nikki Haley, it's not clear they will - the 
Charleston shooting suspect could be sitting on death row for a long time. The 
last execution in South Carolina was in 2011, despite a list of 44 people 
awaiting execution. The pace of executions has slowed to a crawl, in a state 
that has put 282 people to death over approximately the last century. And the 
reasons that this slowdown has happened may also give prosecutors pause in this 
case.

In its earliest days, South Carolina was notoriously expansive in its 
definition of what qualified for the death penalty; a slave could be put to 
death for destroying grain, for instance. It is still one of the top 10 states 
for per capita executions, following the Supreme Court suspension of the dealth 
penalty in 1976 and its subsequent reinstatement. But South Carolina's 
relationship with capital punishment has gotten complicated, some for reasons 
that align with national trends and some specific to the state. On one hand, 
it's a place where, just last year, a judge posthumously exonerated a black boy 
executed in 1944 - the kind of case that has led some states to move away from 
the death penalty. On the other hand, months later, a state legislator sought 
the reintroduction of firing squads to make it easier to execute criminals.

1 cause of the statewide drop in executions helps explain why there would even 
be a doubt about whether Roof will face the death penalty: It's expensive. In 
2012, 1 South Carolina prosecutor who had intended to seek the death penalty 
changed his mind because of the cost. "Once you file for the death penalty, the 
clock gets moving and the money, the taxpayers start paying for that trial," he 
said, reflecting broader angst in the state about the price of death penalty 
trials, appeals, and retrials, compared to a life sentence. Mathematically, if 
fewer prosecutors seek the death penalty, the result is fewer executions. 
Roof's case would seem a likely candidate to set aside the question of cost, 
and some predict the death penalty will indeed be sought. But then, it would 
surely be one of the costlier death penalty trials, because there's a link 
between a case's prominence and its price. (The prosecutor leading the Roof 
case is controversial with the black community.)

But there are other reasons for the decline in the execution rate, according to 
South Carolina government officials, namely the difficulty in acquiring drugs 
needed for lethal injections. "Right now, what we're doing is we are looking 
and reaching out to pharmacies and suppliers et cetera to try to find 
pentobarbital," S.C. Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said, 
explaining how the shortage contributed to the slowdown. "We have thus far not 
been successful at that." The availability of drugs is an issue other states 
are confronting, too. Overall, the drop in executions in South Carolina and the 
reasons for that are "consistent with across the country," says Emily Paavola, 
executive director of the state's Death Penalty Resource and Defense Center.

But the death penalty still remains popular within the state. Nationwide, 
public support for capital punishment has fallen, partly stemming from the 
number of exonerations of death row inmates and partly stemming from declining 
crime rates; that has, in turn, driven politicians in many states to oppose 
capital punishment. But even death penalty opponents admit that the same shift 
has yet to happen in South Carolina, except, Paavola says, with regard to the 
use of the death penalty for the mentally ill, the subject of a poll by her 
group in 2009.

Opponents of the death penalty have tried to seize on the case of South 
Carolina's George Stinney to shift public attitudes. Even among historical 
exonerations, Stinney's case stands out: The 14-year-old was electrocuted more 
than 70 years ago after a 2-hour trial that convicted him of beating two white 
girls to death; in 2014, he was posthumuously exonerated by a judge who cited 
the all-white jury and a compromised confession. "The case has haunted the town 
since it happened," the Washington Post wrote, and "Stinney's case has 
tormented civil rights advocates for years." One of the defense attorneys 
working the case said the state needed to correct the record. "South Carolina 
still recognizes George Stinney as a murderer," Matt Burgess told CNN. "We felt 
that something needed to be done about that."

But the Stinney case hasn't put a halt to a steady stream of bills introduced 
in the Statehouse that meant to make capital punishment easier, like the 
legislation introduced by State Representative Joshua A. Putnam to allow firing 
squads to be used when lethal injection drugs aren't available. Overall, 
Paavola's group has watched the list of factors that makes a case qualify as 
death-eligible grow since 1976. "The Legislature has, over the years since the 
death penalty was reinstated, expanded that," she said, but she noted that 
individual prosecutors have used their discretion differently. "From our 
perspective, the result is, often, very arbitrary selection."

The Death Penalty Resource and Defense Center isn't commenting on the Roof 
case, at least not yet. But on the day of the Charleston shooting, the group 
called it a "sad day for all in SC." And the group noted that it had just 
recently started working with State Senator Clementa Pinckney, who was among 
the murdered. He had been helping them fight a bill that would hide information 
about how lethal injections are carried out from the general public.

(source: Tim Starks, The New Republic)








GEORGIA:

Houston Co. D.A. to seek death penalty in 1994 murder case



A Houston County district attorney is seeking the death penalty on Homer Ridley 
III, the man accused of murdering a Warner Robins woman in December 1994.

According to a news release, George Hartwig, the Houston County district 
attorney for the Judicial Circuit, has filed notice of intention to seek the 
death penalty and notice of statutory aggravating circumstances on Ridley.

Ridley was indicted by a Houston County grand jury on May 19, 2015. Ridley is 
being charged with 1 count of malice murder and 2 counts of felony murder.

Ridley is accused of drowning her in a bathtub while her wrists and ankles were 
bound, according to the indictment.

(source: WMAZ news)








MISSISSIPPI----new death sentence

Rahim Ambrose gets death penalty in killing of Pass Christian man----Ambrose's 
family had pleaded for his life



A Harrison County jury returned the death penalty Friday for Rahim Ambrose, 
convicted of capital murder in the kidnapping and killing of Robert Trosclair 
Jr., his lifelong friend.

Assistant District Attorney Crosby Parker said Circuit Judge Roger Clark read 
the verdict to a crowded courtroom and imposed the sentence.

The death sentence is the 5th handed down in Harrison County since 2009.

The jury convicted Ambrose on Thursday. Eyewitnesses testified Ambrose and 2 
other men beat Trosclair over a 2-hour period at locations on Lobouy and 
Firetower roads in the DeLisle community April 7, 2013.

Trosclair was found face-down in a ditch on Cunningham Road. He was hog-tied 
with a ratchet strap, unrecognizable and brain-dead.

Prosecutors said they were unable to confirm a motive.

Only a jury can decide on a death penalty. Otherwise, capital murder carries a 
prison term of life without parole.

Ambrose's family members pleaded for his life in a sentencing hearing Thursday. 
They said he'd had a hard life, but was a positive person who encouraged 
others, worked hard and supported his three children.

They said he wasn't a violent person and his actions were out of character, but 
his life had value.

Robert Trosclair's life had value, too, Vena Trosclair said Friday. He was her 
son.

"He had 3 sons and relatives and friends who loved him just as much as Rahim's 
family loves him," she said. "He loved his children very much and all that was 
taken away."

Robert Trosclair was a commercial fisherman who enjoyed working on the water. 
His mother said he was devoted to family. When his brother was diagnosed with 
cancer in 2007, he stayed by his brother's bedside six weeks without leaving 
the hospital, she said.

"I'm relieved, but the death penalty doesn't matter much to me. Rahim will 
probably sit on death row for a long while."

"He brought all this on himself. He made the decision to do wrong, and now my 
son is not here and he is."

Justice brings some relief, she said, "But closure? You never get that."

District Attorney Joel Smith said the hard work of the Harrison County 
Sheriff's Office made the verdict possible.

"This has been a tough case and a difficult week for the Trosclair family," 
Smith said. "The jury's verdict provides them justice as they continue to mourn 
the loss of their loved one."

Ambrose, 31, was about 9 years old when his mother's live-in boyfriend killed 
his father outside Isabelle's Lounge on Dec. 2, 1988. Willie Lee Dedeaux was 
convicted of murder for the shooting of Luke Turner. The state Supreme Court 
overturned the conviction in 1993 and sent the case back to court as a 
manslaughter case.

Ambrose's mother testified she has remained in a relationship with Dedeaux and 
they live together.

Ambrose's relatives said his life grew hard after his parents separated. He 
shared other relatives' clothes and shoes whether they fit or not, they said, 
and he often slept on the floor and covered his head to keep roaches off his 
body.

Dominique White, the mother of 2 of Ambrose's children, called him "the perfect 
dad." She said Ambrose provided financial support while she went to college and 
raised their children.

The Rev. Mark Turner, twin brother of Ambrose's slain father, said Ambrose 
attended church and had recently been baptized. He said Ambrose, a singer and 
songwriter, had planned to join the church's praise team.

(source: Biloxi Sun Herald)








OHIO:

Judge to determine mental state of convicted killer



A hearing began Friday to determine the mental state of Shawn Ford.

Ford was convicted in 2014 of murdering his girlfriend's parents, Jeffrey and 
Margaret "Peg" Schobert.

The Schoberts were found in their New Franklin home in 2013. They had been 
beaten to death with a sledgehammer.

Ford was dating the Schoberts' adopted daughter, Chelsea, who is he is accused 
of assaulting less than 2 weeks before the deadly attack.

The hearing underway will determine whether Ford is eligible for the death 
penalty.

It is expected to take 4 days.

(source: WOIO news)

***********

Death penalty possible for 2013 Akron quadruple slaying



A man faces the possibility of the death penalty after a jury found him guilty 
of killing 4 people in a town house in 2013.

A Summit County jury convicted Deshanon Haywood, 23, of 4 counts of aggravated 
murder on Friday night. A penalty phase during which the jury will recommend 
the death penalty or life in prison is to start on June?29.

The bodies were found in an Akron town house in April 2013.

Haywood and Derrick Brantley, 23, were convicted in the drug-related slayings. 
Haywood's convictions were vacated last fall because of concerns about possible 
misconduct by prosecutors and false testimony.

Haywood claimed he didn't shoot anybody.

Brantley was convicted of all 4 slayings and is serving life in prison with no 
parole.

(source: The Columbus Dispatch)

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

Seman pleads not guilty to death penalty charges



Robert Seman pleaded not guilty in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Friday 
to 10 counts of aggravated murder with death-penalty specifications in the 
March 30 deaths of Corinne Gump, 10, and her grandparents William and Judith 
Schmidt.

Judge Maureen Sweeney accepted the pleas as Seman was arraigned, and ordered 
Seman, 46, to be held without bond.

Seman is accused of setting a fire at the Schmidts' Powers Way home the day he 
was to go on trial on charges that he raped Corinne.

Seman also faces bribery charges in connection with the rape case. Prosecutors 
say he tried to bribe his ex-wife into telling prosecutors Gump made up the 
charges against him.

Judge Sweeney also set monthly pretrial hearings in the case. A trial date has 
not been set.

A grand jury indicted Seman on the aggravated murder charges June 11. He also 
faces counts of aggravated arson and aggravated burglary in that case.

Seman could be eligible for the death penalty if convicted because of 6 
specifications under Ohio law: He is accused of killing a person under 13; 
killing 2 or more people; using prior calculation and design; killing the 
witness to a crime; killing a person to escape prosecution from a crime; and 
killing someone in the commission of another felony, in this case the 
aggravated arson or aggravated burglary.

A trial date for the new charges has not been set.

It also has not been determined if the rape and bribery counts will be tried 
before the murder counts.

(source: Youngstown Vindicator)