[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MO., KAN., NEB., OKLA., S. DAK.

[Rick Halperin]

March 4



MISSOURI:

Forum to focus on death penalty



A free forum on the death penalty is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday at Missouri 
Western State University.

"The Death Penalty: On Trial" is free and open to the public at 2 p.m. in 
Kemper Recital Hall, Spratt Hall room 101.

Danixia Cuevas, a professor at Miami Dade College, will speak about the 2 
trials required by the death penalty. Her expertise included conducting a 
detailed psycho-social mitigation history for the defendant in order to 
identify and present mitigating factors.

David Tushaus, professor and chairman of criminal justice, legal studies and 
social work at Missouri Western, will present information about who gets 
executed in this country and across the globe.

(source: St. Joseph News-Press)








KANSAS:

White supremacist faces death penalty for Jewish centre rampage



A judge in Kansas' Johnson County has ordered white supremacist F. Glenn Miller 
Jr. to stand trial for killing 3 people outside Jewish facilities last April in 
Overland Park, Kansas.

After a day and a half of preliminary hearing testimony, District Judge Kelly 
Ryan found that prosecutors had established probable cause to try Miller for 
capital murder and 5 other felony counts related to the April 13, 2014, 
rampage.

Prosecutors wrapped up their case with testimony linking firearms recovered 
from Miller's car with shell casings and bullet fragments left at the two 
shooting scenes. Other testimony focused on the autopsy results.

Miller, 74, allegedly drove from southwest Missouri to Johnson County to kill 
Jewish people. Three victims, all Christians, ended up dead. Miller, also known 
as Frazier Glenn Cross Jr., is charged with capital murder in those deaths. 
Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.

William Corporon, 69, and his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Underwood, were shot 
outside the Jewish Community Center, where Reat was participating in a talent 
competition. Terri LaManno, 53, was killed a few minutes later outside the 
Village Shalom care center, where she had gone to visit her mother.

All 3 victims suffered devastating injuries from shotgun blasts, deputy Johnson 
County coroner Charles Glenn testified Tuesday.

Corporon and his grandson were shot in the head at close range, Glenn testified 
Tuesday.

LaManno was shot in the neck and probably died within seconds, he said.

Crime scene investigators with the Johnson County sheriff's office testified 
about efforts to collect evidence, including spent shotgun shells and bullet 
shell casings.

Deputies who searched Miller's car after his arrest found 4 firearms and a 
large amount of ammunition.

A 12-gauge shotgun and .38-caliber revolver were on the front passenger seat, 
according to testimony. Another 12-gauge shotgun and a .30-caliber rifle were 
found in the boot.

David Wright, a firearms examiner with the Johnson County crime lab, testified 
that spent shells recovered from both crime scenes were fired from the shotgun 
recovered from Miller's car boot.

Bullets and bullet fragments found at the community center were fired from the 
rifle and pistol later taken from Miller's car, Wright said.

On Monday, several witnesses identified Miller as the man they saw shooting at 
people that day.

Overland Park police officers testified that when they arrested Miller, the 
avowed white supremacist asked how many Jews he had killed.

In addition to the capital murder count, Miller was ordered to stand trial on 3 
counts of attempted 1st-degree murder, aggravated assault and criminal 
discharge of a firearm into an occupied building.

Although criminal defendants typically are arraigned after their preliminary 
hearing, defense attorney Mark Manna asked for a delay to consult Miller about 
speedy-trial issues. The arraignment is scheduled for March 27.

As he has during most of his court appearances, Miller spoke to court 
spectators as he was being taken from the courtroom, saying his motivation 
could be found on a particular website linked to white supremacist ideology.

After the preliminary hearing, the court took up a defense motion to allow 
Miller Internet access to assist in his defense while he is in jail.

Miller reacted angrily when the judge would not let him speak on the issue.

"If I can't talk, fire them both," he said, gesturing toward his lawyers and 
adding that he would represent himself.

Miller said he wouldn't "participate" in the trial if he wasn't allowed to 
speak.

"You're not going to gag me at this trial," he said while pointing at the 
judge.

Ryan did not rule on the request for Internet access, which the sheriff's 
office opposes.

(source: stuff.co.nz)








NEBRASKA:

Press conference calls for end to the death penalty



The debate over the death penalty is once again in the legislature.

Today a press conference is scheduled for family members of murder victims who 
are asking lawmakers to put an end to capital punishment. They will be 
presenting a letter which urges an end to a public policy they say only 
inflicts more harm on surviving families.

They're supporting a bill introduced by State Senator Ernie Chambers who has 
worked for years to end the death penalty in Nebraska. The bill would repeal 
capital punishment and replace it with life without parole.

Families in support of the bill say the state spends millions of dollars every 
year on capital punishment, they're hoping that money could go to services for 
victims.

Supporters of the bill say they don't like the idea of applying the death 
penalty to "heinous murders" because it suggests some murders are normal and 
others are not.

The press conference is today at 11 a.m. in the capitol rotunda.

(source: KLKN TV news)








OKLAHOMA:

Nitrogen Gas Executions Approved by Oklahoma House



Oklahoma would become the first state to allow the execution of death row 
inmates using nitrogen gas under a bill overwhelmingly approved on Tuesday by 
the House of Representatives.

The House voted 85-10 for the bill by Oklahoma City Republican Rep. Mike 
Christian, who began studying alternative methods after a botched lethal 
injection in the spring that led the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the 
constitutionality of Oklahoma's current 3-drug method.

Christian said numerous studies have been conducted on nitrogen hypoxia, which 
is similar to what pilots at high altitudes can encounter when oxygen supplies 
diminish. He described the method as humane, painless and easy to administer.

"I believe it's revolutionary," said Christian, a former Oklahoma Highway 
Patrol trooper and a staunch advocate of the death penalty. "I think it's the 
best thing we've come up with since the start of executions by the government."

Christian said prison officials in several other states expressed an interest 
in his proposal, but he declined to name them.

Rep. Kevin Matthews, who voted against the bill, said he wished the Legislature 
would spend more time trying to solve such problems as low wages, a lack of 
affordable health care and poor education outcomes.

"I just don't have the stomach for looking for new ways to kill people," said 
Matthews, a Tulsa Democrat.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where a similar measure passed a committee 
earlier this year with bipartisan support.

Under the bill, lethal injection would remain the state's 1st method of 
execution, but nitrogen gas would become the second alternative method and be 
used if injection were declared unconstitutional or if the drugs became 
unavailable. Under current law, electrocution is the 2nd option, followed by 
firing squad. The bill would make electrocution the 3rd method, followed by 
firing squad.

Christian said there would be no need to construct a gas chamber and that the 
nitrogen could be administered inside a tent or through a secure mask worn by 
the inmate. He said the problem death penalty states are having securing lethal 
drugs would be alleviated with the purchase of a nitrogen generator, which 
would give prison officials an everlasting supply of the ingredient necessary 
to carry out executions.

Unlike traditional gas chambers that used drugs such as cyanide that caused a 
buildup of carbon dioxide in the blood, Christian said breathing nitrogen would 
be painless because it leads to hypoxia, a gradual lack of oxygen in the blood.

Although some members questioned Christian about how the method would work, 
there was no debate against the bill.

No state has ever used nitrogen gas or inert gas hypoxia to execute an inmate, 
and there has not been any reported use of the method in other countries, 
according to Amnesty International's most recent report on the death penalty 
internationally. The 2013 report did note that execution data from China, the 
nation that executes the most people, is not readily available. Amnesty 
International opposes the death penalty in all cases.

"Without more research, I think this would be a very risky experiment," said 
Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty 
Information Center. "This is a human life that's being tested, and the standard 
should be much higher than ... 1 or 2 people saying, 'I think this will work.'"

Executions in Oklahoma are on hold while the U.S. Supreme Court reviews the 
state's lethal injection method. The legal challenge, which was sparked by a 
botched execution last spring, centers on whether the sedative midazolam 
properly renders an inmate unconscious before the second and 3rd drugs are 
administered. Oklahoma officials concede midazolam is not the preferred drug 
for executions, but death penalty states have been forced to explore 
alternatives as manufacturers of more effective drugs refuse to sell them for 
use in lethal injections.

House Bill 1879: http://bit.ly/1vetcRn

(source: Associated Press)








SOUTH DAKOTA:

South Dakota protocols for lethal injection



Concerns about the quality of a lethal injection drug to be used in a Georgia 
execution gives 1 woman a temporary stay.

With 3 men sitting on death row in South Dakota, it raises concerns for some 
about the state's death penalty process.

There are some who say the state has the proper protocols in place to prevent 
that from happening, while others say a death sentence is not a just 
punishment.

It was an unexpected ending to a Georgia execution as many stood vigil to 
protest.

Georgia Department of Corrections Public Relations & Information Coordinator 
Gwendolyn Hogan said "the drugs appeared cloudy. The Department of Corrections 
immediately consulted with the pharmacists and in an abundance of caution 
inmate Gissendaner execution has been postponed."

Southeast South Dakota co-chair Leona Wieland said "it makes me realize that at 
least some of the recent executions have failed terribly."

Here in South Dakota, Wieland stands for peace in justice.

"I'm so glad they stopped it, because how do we justify being brutal," Wieland 
said.

Not knowing the effects of the faulty drugs in the Georgia execution could be 
considered cruel and unusual punishment. South Dakota attorney general Marty 
Jackley said the state has protocols in place to prevent a similar situation.

"There needs to be proper steps to ensure that there will not be unnecessary 
suffering, which is the process in which the drug protocols are designed to 
better insure that the carrying out of such sentences are constitutional," 
Jackley said.

Meanwhile, 3 men face death by lethal injection in South Dakota.

"I would anticipate, that those same drug protocols, that same careful work to 
carry those protocols out, will be the case when it comes to any further 
capital sentences here in South Dakota," Jackley said.

"I question whether they are safe. I've been at the last 3 executions, and I 
felt there was a time lapse, and maybe, at the time, it just seemed like we 
were waiting and waiting," Wieland said.

The Pax Christi co-chair said she believes life in prison would be a better 
punishment because there is hope people can change.

The Georgia Department of Corrections has stopped other executions scheduled 
for the time being, so it can figure out what went wrong with the drug it was 
using.

(source: KSFY news)