[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., N.C., FLA., MISS., LA.

[Rick Halperin]

May 7



TEXAS----impending execution

Death Watch: Generations of Madness----Charles death penalty raises question of 
mental illness



Next up on Texas' execution schedule - May 12 - is 32-year-old Derrick Charles.

On July 2, 2002, then-19-year-old Charles beat, strangled, sexually assaulted, 
and eventually killed his 15-year-old girlfriend Myiesha Bennett, her mother 
Brenda Bennett, and her grandfather Obie Lee Bennett in their Houston home, for 
reasons Charles never could explain. He pled guilty, and was sentenced to death 
May 14, 2003. At trial, his attorneys did very little to help Charles save his 
life. According to petitions for writs of habeas corpus filed at the state and 
federal levels, his trial attorneys Connie Williams and Sid Crowley called only 
4 witnesses, and did no mitigation investigation whatsoever. Crowley in 
particular did "virtually nothing to prepare the punishment phase of Derrick's 
trial," wrote Randall Sorrels, who represented Charles during a petition for 
relief in 2009. Crowley reportedly billed only 15 hours on the case: 10 to read 
the prosecution's file, 5 to prep testimony for 1 witness, and zero for 
mitigating evidence.

Those petitions also pointed to serious hardships Charles faced as a child 
growing up in Houston. He was born prematurely to an allegedly schizophrenic, 
unemployable mother and a father who left before he was born. His stepfather 
was an alcoholic abuser who regularly violently assaulted Charles' mother. 
Charles grew up in extreme poverty, the petitions reported, and was the product 
of a "multi-generational pattern of severe mental illness." He was 
intermittently hospitalized (and sent to psychiatric facilities) throughout his 
childhood, and tested at the second grade level of reading when he was 16.

Charles had a petition for rehearing denied in January 2014 and a petition for 
writ of certiorari denied by the U.S. Supreme Court last October. Still at 
issue now is his competency and ability to understand his eventual execution. 
His attorney Paul Mansur told the Chronicle Monday that federal HIPAA laws 
(relevant to his client's family's medical history) bar him from speaking 
specifically about recent efforts, but that he had plans to argue Charles' 
incompetence though certain filings scheduled after this story goes to press.

(source: Austin Chronicle)








VIRGINIA:

Virginia bishops urge Catholics to shift focus of death penalty debate



Virginia's bishops called on Catholics in the state's 2 dioceses to step up to 
change the debate about the use of the death penalty.

Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo of Richmond and Bishop Paul S. Loverde of Arlington 
said it was time to shift the conversation from who should be executed and how 
to execute people to why the death penalty continues to be applied, especially 
when other means to protect society without taking a human life exist.

Citing the words of Pope Francis in opposing capital punishment, the bishops 
said in a statement released May 6 that by ending the death penalty in the 
state, "we would take 1 important step ... to abandon the culture of death and 
embrace the culture of life."

They pointed to the tenets of Catholic teaching, which hold that all human life 
is sacred, fueling the church's drive to advocate for the needs of poor and 
vulnerable people, the elderly, the unborn and immigrants and refugees.

"But our faith challenges us to declare sacred even the least lovable among us, 
those convicted of committing brutal crimes which have brought them the 
ultimate penalty, the penalty of death," the bishops said.

The statement also cited the U.S. bishops' 2005 statement "A Culture of Life 
and the Penalty of Death, which summarized church teaching on the death penalty 
in saying that ???no matter how heinous the crime, if society can protect 
itself from without ending a human life, it should do so."

The Virginia bishops' statement noted that since 1973, 152 death row inmates 
nationwide, including 1 in Virginia, have been exonerated. "We must also be 
aware of the racial inequity inherent in the system, and that the death penalty 
has been administered to individuals with severe intellectual disabilities," 
they wrote.

"These circumstances further illustrate that, in Virginia and elsewhere, we are 
having the wrong debate," the 2 bishops said. "We should no longer debate which 
inmates we execute and how we execute them. Instead, we should debate this: If 
all human lives are sacred and if a civilized society such as ours can seek 
redress and protect itself by means other than taking a human life, why are we 
continuing to execute people?"

(source: Catholic News Service)

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

Jesse Matthew: Death penalty sought for man charged with Hannah Graham's 
killing



Based on newly discovered forensic evidence in the case against Jesse Matthew 
Jr., the man formerly charged with the abduction with intent to defile and the 
1st-degree murder of 18-year-old UVA student Hannah Graham, prosecutors have 
upped the charges and said on May 5 that Matthew was being charged with 
Graham's capital murder. If the case against Matthew goes to trial and he's 
convicted, he would be looking at a death sentence instead of life in prison, 
according to CNN.

Denise Lunsford, Attorney for Albemarle County, would not go into detail about 
the new forensic evidence her office obtained in late February. But she said it 
was enough for her to seek the capital murder charge against Matthew and to ask 
for the death penalty in his case. It was coincidentally last February when 
prosecutors in the case against Matthew said that the state will not be seeking 
the death penalty for the former hospital worker and taxi driver, according to 
Fox News.

Matthew appeared at a hearing yesterday to hear the new charge after being 
served with his capital murder indictment earlier in the day, according to The 
Huffington Post. He showed no emotion while in the courtroom, handcuffed and 
shackled.

Graham was last seen on surveillance video in the early morning hours of 
September 12, 2014. Matthew was also seen in those videos walking along with 
Graham, whose remains were discovered by searchers on October 18, 2014, in an 
abandoned property in Albemarle County. Matthew's trial date will be set at a 
hearing scheduled for June 25.

(source: The Examiner)








NORTH CAROLINA:

Prosecutors eye death penalty for Graves



A man already facing a possible death penalty in the slaying of a 9-year-old 
Durham boy could be looking at a capital punishment request in a 2nd homicide.

The defendant, Everett Lamont Graves, made an initial appearance Wednesday in 
Durham County Superior Court in the shooting death of 28-year-old Desmond 
Romario Williams, whose body was found in a street on Dec. 17, 2013.

Graves, 24, already was awaiting trial in the fatal shooting of 9-year-old 
Jaeden Sharpe of Durham. The boy was in a car on Lucas Drive with his mother, 
Lakeisha Holloway, when shots were fired into the car about 6 p.m. Jan. 4, 
2014.

Holloway was able to drive a few blocks away to get help. She and her son were 
taken to the hospital, but Jaeden died 6 days later. Holloway recovered.

In the death of Williams, police responded to a "shots fired" call in the 2600 
block of East Shoreham Street at 2:21 p.m. Dec. 17, 2013. They found Williams 
in the street with a gunshot wound, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Attorney Lisa Williams, who represents Graves in the child's death, said the 
circumstances surrounding the shooting of Williams are unclear. Prosecutors 
have declined to discuss a motive.

Graves was in jail awaiting trial in Jaeden's death when a grand jury indicted 
him last month in Williams' death.

Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against Graves in the boy's death. 
But at Wednesday's hearing, Chief Assistant District Attorney Luke Bumm said 
his office is still considering whether to seek capital punishment in the death 
of Williams.

"We have to consider that in every 1st-degree murder case," Bumm said in an 
interview. "It's a decision that our office and every DA's office has to make 
in any case in which someone might qualify for it."

Graves remains in the Durham County jail without bond.

His next hearing is set for June 1.

(source: Herald Sun)








FLORIDA:

FIU law grant to train defense lawyers handling capital cases



Florida International University's College of Law has received a grant to help 
improve the quality and effectiveness of defense lawyers handling capital 
cases.

Florida is the 2nd state in the nation in both the number of people sentenced 
to death and the number of executions.

The law school's Death Penalty Clinic, through its Florida Center for Capital 
Representation (FCCR), will spend the next 2 years providing education and 
consultation to lawyers who are representing clients facing the death penalty 
as a result of a $620,000 grant from the

Themis Fund, a Proteus Fund initiative. The Themis Fund is aimed at abolishing 
the death penalty. The FIU College of Law is the only Florida law school 
working on this effort.

"Our professors will be assisting lawyers in specific research and 
investigations, and training future lawyers on how to properly represent 
someone facing the death penalty," said R. Alexander Acosta, dean of the FIU 
College of Law. "The law school will act as a 'measuring stick' of what is 
effective representation."

FIU law school students, under the supervision of the law school faculty, will 
learn first-hand how to manage capital punishment cases. Students will work 
alongside practicing lawyers on the cases, pleadings, motions, and will help 
interview witnesses and clients.

"The goal is to improve attorneys' investigation skills and teach them how to 
create mitigating profiles on behalf of the client," said Professor Stephen 
Harper, who is the supervising attorney for the Death Penalty Clinic and who 
will lead the training program.

"We will also teach them how to present powerful and compelling arguments, how 
to get their client to plea, when necessary, and how to preserve the record for 
appeal," he said. "The training will include jury selection and how to 
integrate the 1st phase of a capital case with the penalty phase."

For more information on the Death Penalty Clinic and how to participate, call 
305-348-4242 or send email to Stephen Harper at stharper at fiu.edu.

(source: Palmetto Bay News)

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

Tomoka prison corrections officer killer on death row seeks to have conviction 
overturned



Attorneys for a 2-time rapist sentenced to die for killing a corrections 
officer at Tomoka Correctional Institution were in court on Wednesday asking a 
judge to overturn his conviction in part because his defense attorneys at trial 
failed to call a psychologist.

Enoch Hall, 46, was sentenced to die for beating, strangling and stabbing 
corrections officer Donna Fitzgerald at the prison on June 25, 2008. Hall's 
claim of ineffective counsel is a common one by inmates who have had their 
appeals rejected by the Florida Supreme Court as Hall's was in 2012.

Hall was serving 2 consecutive life sentences when he killed Fitzgerald, 
stabbing her 22 times with a makeshift knife. Fitzgerald was supervising Hall, 
a welder on a work crew. Fitzgerald's body was found over a cart and her pants 
had been pulled down, which prosecutors said had shown an intent to rape.

Circuit Judge J. David Walsh sentenced Hall to die, following a jury's 
unanimous recommendation in 2010 after it found him guilty of first-degree 
murder. And Walsh presided over the hearing Wednesday at the S. James Foxman 
Justice Center in Daytona Beach.

Hall, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit and shackles, occasionally spoke to his 
attorneys, including Ann Marie Mirialakis. She questioned Assistant Public 
Defender Matt Phillips about the decision not to call the psychologist during 
the trial's penalty phase.

Phillips said he made the decision not to provide jurors testimony from Dr. 
Harry Krop, a Gainesville psychologist who evaluated Hall.

"My psychological expert is thinking that he's got more bad things to say than 
good things," Phillips said.

Krop would have testified that Hall suffered "mild cognitive deficits," 
Phillips said.

Weigh that, Phillips said, versus opening the door for prosecutors to call 
their expert Dr. Jeffrey Danziger, a psychiatrist.

Danziger could have testified that Hall had said he considered raping 
Fitzgerald.

Danziger also could have testified that Hall had considered using Fitzgerald's 
uniform as part of an escape attempt.

Phillips was also questioned by Assistant Attorney General Stacey Kirchner, 
whose job for this proceeding was to defend Phillip's work.

Phillips said that the only mitigation the defense found was that Hall had a 
cognitive deficit and that Hall was raped in the Escambia County jail around 
1990. But Kirchner said there was no documentation of the rape.

Phillips said that rape could explain some things.

"When you are trying to explain to an ordinary group of citizens why did this 
guy go down such a bad path in life," Phillips said. "What went wrong, 
especially somebody that had a relatively nice middle class life growing up, 
what went wrong, well that was it."

(source: Daytona Beach News-Journal)








MISSISSIPPI:

How The FBI Majorly Screwed Up A Death Penalty Case And Admitted It Just In 
Time



An African American death row inmate was just added to the growing innocence 
list compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), after he was 
cleared in the murder of an elderly woman and her daughter - but he's still 
sentenced to die for the murders of 2 college students. The twist? He may be 
exonerated in that crime as well, since the FBI admitted flawed forensic 
testimony was used to convict him.

In 1994, Willie Manning was convicted for the murder of two Mississippi State 
University students, Jon Steckler and Tiffany Miller, and received 2 death 
penalty sentences. During the murder trial on behalf of Steckler and Miller, 
prosecutors relied on witness and FBI expert testimonies. An FBI forensics 
expert said Manning's hair matched hair found at the crime scene. A ballistics 
expert from the FBI, who also testified against Manning, argued that a tree in 
Manning's mom's yard was used as target practice, and that bullets found inside 
were fired from the same weapon used to kill the victims (even though the 
firearm was never found). The testimony was based on a microscopic comparison 
of tool marks on the bullets.

Additionally, witness Earl Jones, who was serving jail time, said Manning 
confessed to killing the 2 students and co-conspiring with a 2nd person.

2 years later, Manning was convicted in the murders of 90-year-old Alberta 
Jordan and Emmoline Jimmerson, who were killed in 1993. He subsequently 
received 2 more death penalty sentences, but was absolved of all charges in 
February, after a key witness recanted his testimony and the police failed to 
turn over additional evidence.

However, the retrial was only possible because of a surprising turn of events 
in 2013. Hours before Willie Manning's scheduled death on May 7, the execution 
was stayed by the state's Supreme Court. While an official reason for the stay 
was never provided, Manning's defense attorneys are confident that FBI failures 
were responsible. Days before his execution for killing the college students, 
the FBI sent 3 letters to the district attorney's office, admitting that the 
experts who testified against Manning presented flawed evidence.

The 1st letter, addressed to District Attorney Deforest Allgood on May 2, 
states, "We have determined that the microscopic hair comparison analysis 
testimony or laboratory report presented in this case included statements that 
exceeded the limits of science and was, therefore, invalid. While this case did 
not involve a positive association of an evidentiary hair to an individual, the 
examiner stated or implied in a general explanation of microscopic hair 
comparison analysis that a questioned hair could be associated with a specific 
individual to the exclusion of all others - this type of testimony exceeded the 
limits of science.

2 days later, the FBI wrote, We have determined that the microscopic hair 
comparison analysis testimony or laboratory report presented in this case 
included additional statements that exceeded the limits of science and was, 
therefore, invalid ....The scientific analysis of hair evidence permits an 
examiner to offer an opinion that a questioned hair possesses certain traits 
that are associated with a particular racial group. However, since a 
statistical probability cannot be determined for classification of hair into a 
particular racial group, it would be error for an examiner to testify that he 
can determine that the questioned hairs were from an individual of a particular 
racial group.

A 3rd letter sent on May 6 reads, The science regarding firearms examinations 
does not permit examiner testimony that a specific gun fired a specific bullet 
to the exclusion of all other guns in the world. The examiner could testify to 
that information, to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty, but not 
absolutely. Any individual association or identification conclusion effected 
through this examination process is based not on absolute certainty but rather 
a reasonable degree of scientific certainty.

Federal authorities are now conducting DNA tests of the physical evidence 
collected at the scene, but the FBI's findings of flawed evidence in Manning's 
case barely scratches the surface of a larger problem. Just last month, the FBI 
acknowledged its use of flawed forensic evidence to convict people over several 
decades - and that many of of the cases resulted in death sentences for the 
defendants. Specifically, comparisons of hair belonging to the defendant and 
hair found at respective crime scenes were scientifically erroneous. In 2012, 
the Bureau launched an investigation into the use of flawed hair analysis, the 
FBI found that hair matches were used in 2,500 cases. As of mid-April, the FBI 
reviewed 342 of those cases, and found that FBI forensic experts presented 
flawed evidence 257 trials. Robert Dunham, the executive director of DPIC, says 
the FBI has discovered 33 capital cases in which hair analysis was used.

"It is always stunning when a man is exonerated from death row with evidence of 
his innocence, but Mr. Manning's case presents the unimaginable possibility 
that an innocent man may have been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in 
2 different trials for 2 different offenses," Dunham said, in a recent press 
release. "His cases present some of the classic hallmarks of innocence: racial 
overtones, unreliable witnesses, and police or prosecutorial misconduct. His 
2nd case includes an additional horrifying dimension - 2 different types of 
junk science masquerading as forensic evidence of his guilt."

Robert Mink, one of Manning's defense attorneys, told ThinkProgress that 
forensic and ballistics evidence wasn't the only questionable evidence 
presented in trial. Indeed, circumstantial evidence from a car burglary was 
used against the defendant, because items from a stolen vehicle were in 
Manning's possession. Prosecutors theorized that the murdered students left a 
fraternity house, witnessed Manning in the act of stealing a car (that didn't 
belong to them), and tried to intervene. Then, he pulled a gun on them, forced 
the two to drive to the countryside, and killed them.

Moreover, according to Manning's 2nd defense attorney, David Voisil, Jordan's 
since admitted he lied about Manning's confession. Voisil told ThinkProgress 
that he and a 3rd investigator located the ex-felon, at which point Jordan 
recanted his statement. But Jordan never signed an affidavit, so Jordan's 
statement has very limited usefulness.

"We believe he's actually innocent," said Mink. "He's always maintained his 
innocence. He didn't have any violent convictions. His criminal history was for 
things like theft."

As to how Manning is feeling about these recent developments, Voisin shared, 
"He's very happy that his conviction was vacated and that the prosecutor 
decided not to seek additional charges on the case involving the death of the 
elderly woman. He's very cautious about it - he's still on death row. He came 
within hours of being executed, and that was a very difficult experience, 
having to live through something like that."

According to the National Registry of Exoneration, 45 people have been 
exonerated this year. In 2014, 125 inmates were exonerated - the highest count 
for any year on record. 6 of the former inmates were on death row. And of the 
1589 people exonerated to date, 743 are black - including the 6 taken off of 
death row last year.

(source: thinkprogress.org)








LOUISIANA:

Baton Rouge death penalty case: Relatives testify about convicted murderer Lee 
Turner's family



What happens in someone's life that results in them murdering 2 people?

A Baton Rouge jury on Wednesday (May 6) took a deep dive into the family 
background of Lee Turner Jr., who was convicted earlier this week of 2 counts 
of 1st-degree homicide. He's now facing the death penalty for his crimes, in 
the 1st capital murder case in Baton Rouge in 5 years.

Turner, 25, was convicted of killing Edward Gurtner, 43, and Randy Chaney, 54, 
during an armed robbery at a CarQuest auto parts store in March 2011. All 3 of 
them worked for CarQuest -- Turner was a recent hire.

Several family members took the stand Wednesday to describe what Turner's life 
was like growing up in New Orleans, and in the various cities he lived in 
post-Katrina, as the defense aimed to make him more sympathetic to the jury. 
The penalty phase of the trial is scheduled to continue on Thursday.

Much of the testimony painted Turner's mother, Melissa Moss, as the most 
problematic figure in his life: His relatives described her as unloving and 
neglectful, too busy fighting -- sometimes physically -- with a series of 
live-in boyfriends to pay much attention to her children.

"I can count on one hand how many times my mom hugged me and actually told me 
she loved me," said DeMarcus Moss, Turner's older half-brother.

Turner lived with his mom in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina hit the city 
when he was a teenager. After that, he bounced around from place to place, 
staying with various relatives.

But as prosecutor Tracery Barbera pointed to her in questioning, it seemed from 
the parade of relatives that spoke in Turner's defense that he did have a 
support system in place. Multiple relatives from Turner's extended family 
testified that they cared for him and spent time with him as a child and 
teenager.

"Melissa wasn't a good mom, and you recognize that, and you united as a family 
around Lee Turner," Barbera told one of the relatives. "You recognized there 
was a void and you did everything you could to fill it."

And when Turner committed the murders, he was about to have a child with his 
long-time girlfriend Melanie Williams. They met while working together at a 
shoe store when Turner was 17, and were together for more than 4 years.

Williams, who is a few years older than Turner, said she was disappointed in 
herself when she found out she was pregnant, unmarried and not at the time in 
her life when she wanted to have a child.

"That's not how my parents raised me," she testified.

But Turner was thrilled.

"He was on Cloud 9," Williams said. "That's all he talked about. He kept saying 
he wanted a boy, he wanted to carry on his name."

Williams gave birth to Turner's son about a month and a half after the murders 
occurred, and the 2 have only ever met in prison.

Turner's relatives said they didn't know what to say about the murder charges.

"I don't know what happened," his father, Lee Turner Sr. said quietly. "I wish 
I could just take it back. I wish I could do something."

He then told his son, "I still don't think you're guilty."

But defense attorney Scott Collier reminded him that the jury had already 
convicted Lee Turner Jr. He asked the father to describe how it would impact 
him "if they decide to kill your son."

Lee Turner Sr. didn't say anything for about 30 seconds.

"It would be like killing me," he said.

(soure: Times-Picayune)