[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO, MO.

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 4



TEXAS:

Death warrant for Ward delivered


Hunt County Sheriff Randy Meeks was scheduled Tuesday to deliver the death 
warrant for Adam Kelly Ward.

Meeks traveled to the Texas Department of Corrections Tuesday, as the death 
warrant has to be hand delivered to the agency's director by the sheriff of the 
county in which the conviction occurred.

The death warrant was signed Monday by 354th District Court Judge Richard 
Beacom.

Ward is set to die by lethal injection on the evening of March 22, 2016. He was 
convicted and sentenced to death in 2007 for the 2005 death of Michael "Pee 
Wee" Walker, a City of Commerce Code Enforcement Officer.

(source: Greenville Herald-Banner)

**********

Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present----12

Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982----present-----530

Abbott#--------scheduled execution date-----name------------Tx. #

13---------November 18--------------Raphael Holiday-------531

14---------January 20 (2016)-----Richard Masterson--------532

15---------January 27---------------James Freeman---------533

16---------February 16--------------Gustavo Garcia--------534

17---------March 9------------------Coy Wesbrook----------535

18---------March 22-----------------Adam Ward-------------536

(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)






FLORIDA:

Convicted Cop Killer Dies on Death Row


A man convicted of killing a Tallahassee Police officer has died on death row.

The Department of Corrections confirms that Clarence Jones died of what appears 
to be natural causes last week. He'd been on death row for 26 years.

Jones was sentenced to death for ambushing Tallahassee Police Officer Ernie 
Ponce de Leon during a traffic stop back in 1988.

David Ferrell worked with Ponce de Leon at TPD back then.

"When Ernie got murdered that morning it just... personally made me realize how 
dangerous this job really is," Ferrell said. "Ernie and Greg responded to a 
suspicious persons call down on Lake Bradford Road. It was a standard, common 
call and the first thing you know, it turns into a running gun battle."

Ferrell says Jones' death does not bring him any closure. He still misses his 
fellow officer and friend and continues to fasten Ponce de Leon's picture to 
his bike as a way to honor him during remembrance rides.

A DOC spokesman says Jones died last Tuesday, October 27th. Both FDLE and the 
DOC's Inspector General are investigating, which the DOC says is standard 
protocol in any unattended deaths.

(source: WCTV news)

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

Convicted murderer's lawyer appeals death sentence


The case against a prison escapee found guilty of killing a Florida State 
University student and dumping his body in a field off State Road 16 will head 
to the Florida Supreme Court.

In June 2014, a St. Johns County jury unanimously voted to recommend the death 
penalty for Kentrell Feronti Johnson, who was found guilty of first-degree 
murder and kidnapping relating to the death of Vincent Binder, a 29-year-old 
FSU graduate student.

But the judgment was appealed Tuesday by Johnson's lawyer, Michael Reiter, who 
said the Seventh Judicial Circuit "acted in bad faith" when the court failed to 
uphold an agreement between Johnson and the state attorney's office in 
Tallahassee.

The Seventh Judicial Circuit serves Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns and Volusia 
counties. Tallahassee is in the Second Judicial Circuit, which covers Franklin, 
Liberty, Gadsden, Leon, Wakulla, and Jefferson counties.

When Johnson was arrested in South Florida, he was interviewed by attorneys 
representing the Second Judicial Circuit who said they wouldn't pursue the 
death penalty if he helped him find the body, according to Reiter.

"Johnson relied upon his bargain with the State of Florida not to pursue the 
death penalty if he helped locate the body of Vincent Binder. As a result of 
Florida's reneging on their agreement, Johnson's constitutional rights were 
violated," the appeal states.

Reiter added, "No matter where the body was found, the death penalty was not an 
option (per the agreement)."

He also said since Johnson had already been charged of the crimes in 
Tallahassee, there was no reason for St. Johns County to charge him as well.

"There was no reason other than to avoid the agreement," he argued.

But one state attorney's office can't bind another, Vivian Singleton, assistant 
state attorney for the Florida Attorney General's Office, argued.

"Attorneys only have the power to prosecute in their circuit," Singleton said. 
"And the judge can't take sentencing guidelines away from a state attorney."

And since there was no formal agreement, the Seventh Judicial Circuit has no 
way of knowing what the actual agreement was, she said.

During the trial, Judge Raul Zambrano said he didn't have the authority to 
enforce the agreement, but Reiter pointed to Florida statutes that would allow 
it in some cases.

"I believe he did have authority," he said.

Johnson was not working alone; he escaped from a Louisiana prison with Quentin 
Marcus Truehill and Peter Marcus Hughes on March 30, 2010.

The men stole a car and drove across the Florida Panhandle. They drove into 
Tallahassee on April 2, and they came across Binder as he was leaving a 
friend's apartment after midnight.

The men kidnapped him in an attempt to steal his money. Police believe he was 
alive when they crossed into St. Johns County, where he was killed and left in 
a field near the outlet mall on S.R. 16.

The group then headed back south, but not before using Binder's debit card in 
Jacksonville and in Madison County.

They were eventually arrested in Miami on April 22, 2010. Binder's body was 
found in St. Johns County 6 days later on April 28.

Truehill was convicted of 1st-degree murder and kidnapping on Feb. 10, 2014. He 
is also facing the death penalty.

Hughes was spared the death sentence when he pleaded guilty on June 19 in 
exchange for a sentence of life in prison. State Attorney R.J. Larizza told The 
Record last year the state did not pursue the death penalty against Hughes 
because there was medical evidence that he suffered from some degree of mental 
retardation, which would have made it illegal to impose death in his case.

During Tuesday's proceedings, held in a Tallahassee courtroom, Singleton asked 
the Supreme Court to "affirm the conviction and sentence."

The justices did not make an immediate ruling, but are expected to make a 
decision at a later date.

(source: St. Augustine Record)

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

Man Convicted of Killing FSU Student Appeals Death Sentence


A man on death row for kidnapping and killing an FSU student is now appealing 
to the state's highest court.

We were there as attorneys for Kentrell Johnson asked justices to overturn his 
death sentence in the abduction and murder of Vincent Binder.

FSU student Vincent Binder was found stabbed to death in a field off I-95 near 
St. Augustine.

His body was found weeks after he disappeared while walking home from a 
friend's house in Tallahassee in April 2010.

Now Kentrell Johnson, one of the men on death row for kidnapping and killing 
Binder, is asking the state's highest court to overturn his death sentence.

"The reason they found that body was that map," defense attorney Michael Reiter 
stressed in his arguments to the Florida Supreme Court this morning.

Reiter claims Kentrell Johnson made a deal with prosecutors here in Tallahassee 
that if he led police to Binder's body, he could avoid the death penalty.

Prosecutors in St. Johns County - where Binders body was found and the murder 
likely took place - did not agree to that deal and a judge there later 
sentenced Johnson to death.

"What that causes is a lot of abuse prosecutors have by making agreements 
knowing they don't have to bind them - abide by them if another jurisdiction 
picks up the case," Reiter said after the hearing.

The Attorney General's office argued there are conflicting opinions about what 
the deal was, whether Johnson's map actually led police to the body and whether 
that deal extends beyond Tallahassee.

"The State Attorney does not have the ability to bind another State Attorney's 
office," Assistant Attorney General Vivian Singleton argued before the Florida 
Supreme Court.

"That's not the ultimate bait and switch?" one of the justices asked her.

A Supreme Court decision on Kentrell Johnson's direct appeal could take months.

We reached out to Vincent Binder's friend today. Beth Frady was one of the last 
people to see him alive.

"Today's hearing changes nothing for those closest to Vince," Frady said. "Our 
world and this world will never be the same because we are without Vince. 
Vince's family and friends continue to trust the criminal justice process and 
believe justice will continue to be served as the process moves forward."

This afternoon, we also spoke to Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman, 
who made the deal now being debated before the Supreme Court.

This afternoon, Cappleman told us, "The defendant (Kentrell Johnson) 
represented that the body was in Leon County. I agreed to waive the death 
penalty in exchange for him taking us to the body. This was done to recover the 
body for the sake of the family. However, the defendant did not hold up his end 
of the bargain as he did not take us to the body," she said.

"I never made a deal which involved any crime occurring outside my 
jurisdiction, nor did I represent in any way that I was authorized to make 
decisions on behalf of any other state attorney," Cappleman said.

We will let you know when the Supreme Court makes a decision in Johnson's case.

(source: WCTV news)






ALABAMA:

1 dead, 1 charged with capital murder


Juan Blue, 36, has been charged with capital murder after allegedly firing a 
fatal gunshot that killed a 44-year-old man.

The Union Springs Police Department would not reveal the victim???s name, 
however other sources say the victim was Christopher Harris.

Union Springs Police Department Captain Ronnie Felder said the incident 
occurred in front of a home located on Carter Street in Union Springs.

According to Captain Felder, Blue allegedly drove a white Pontiac G6 car to the 
home on Carter Street.

While still inside the vehicle, he fired a weapon striking Harris who was 
outside the home. Blue then left the scene.

Harris was transported by Haynes Ambulance and Haynes LifeFlight. He was 
pronounced dead in Montgomery.

The shooting occurred around 12:09 a.m. early Friday morning, October 30, 2015. 
Reports say the 2 individuals had an ongoing feud. Union Springs Police 
apprehended Blue within a couple hours at his home on Owens Street without 
incident.

He is currently incarcerated in the Bullock County Jail. No bond has been set.

If convicted of capital murder, he could be sentenced to life in prison or the 
death penalty, according to the Code of Alabama.

(source: Union Springs Herald)






OHIO:

Jury to decide death penalty in Daniel French case


Daniel French, convicted killer of 87-year-old Barbara Howe, will be back in 
court today for a hearing in which the same jury that convicted him will 
determine whether he should live or die.

The trial's penalty phase is expected to take 2 days - with friends and family 
being called to the stand by the defense as well as a psychologist who 
interviewed French at the Butler County Jail, where he has been housed since 
his arrest in December 2014, about 2 1/2 years after Howe was killed in her 
cottage at Mount Pleasant Retirement Community.

Last month's 9-day trial, which included French's full confession, also 
revealed some aspects about his life that may have shaped his mind set.

French grew up in Middletown and is one of nine children. After their father's 
death about 3 years ago, some of the siblings didn't get along and stopped 
talking with each other, according to an interview French had with police.

Kenneth French, Daniel's brother, called police after he saw him around the 
time of Howe's slaying on Oct. 28, 2012.

During his testimony on day 4 of the trial, Kenneth French said he struggled 
for weeks about calling the police, but ultimately did make that call. He told 
police his brother was wearing a Mount Pleasant shirt even though he no longer 
worked at the retirement community.

Kenneth French said he had a bad feeling when he met his brother, who he 
referred to as "Danny," in the parking lot of a Kroger in Walton, Ky. on Nov. 
1, 2012.

"When I get out of the truck, he gives me a big hug and tells me he loves me," 
Kenneth French told prosecutors during direct examination. He said that was odd 
behavior for his brother, who had called him the day before to ask if they 
could meet on his way from Monroe back to their sister's house in Berea.

"I felt like he was telling me goodbye for the last time," Kenneth French said, 
sobbing at times during his testimony.

Daniel French told police several times he was depressed and even suicidal. 
Kenneth French said he too felt like "Danny" was going to take his own life.

"But everybody has been in a depression since my father died," Kenneth French 
said to defense attorney Melynda Cook during cross examination.

2 other siblings, Wanda Allen, the sister French was living with when arrested 
in Berea, Ky. and LeeAnn Ifcic, the sister he was staying with in Monroe when 
Howe was killed, may also be called to the stand by defense attorneys. Ifcic 
sat outside the courtroom during the entire trial because she was listed as a 
prosecution witness and could not hear testimony due to separation of 
witnesses.

Ultimately the prosecution did not call Ifcic to testify and she was permitted 
in the courtroom during closing arguments. When the jury returned guilty 
verdicts after just 2 hours of deliberation, Ifcic sobbed as the verdict was 
read.

"I love my brother and I always will," she said.

French's taped interview with police were played during the trial, but the 
penalty phase may be the 1st time the jury will actually hear from him. He did 
not testify during trial, but he will be permitted to give an unsworn statement 
during the mitigation hearing.

The penalty phase is expected to go into Thursday because a psychologist who 
evaluated French is not available to testify until Thursday morning.

The prosecution will make arguments about the crimes French has been convicted 
of to support the death penalty, but it is limited in this phase to calling 
witnesses in rebuttal to issues raised by the defense.

"I am not permitted to put family members on to talk about how they have been 
affected by this crime," said Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser.

Gmoser said they will likely not call any witnesses.

French, a former maintenance man at Mount Pleasant Retirement Community, 
hatched a plan to rob Howe using the ruse of repairing her medical alarm 
system. Once he gained entry to her home, French shocked her with a stun gun, 
but when she didn't go down, he choked her, then slit her throat with a 
double-edged knife. He then put Howe's body in the trunk of her red Cadillac 
and drove it to a Middletown apartment complex. The cover up DNA and the crime, 
French poured cleaning supplies and vacuum clean debris on Howe's body before 
walking to Walmart and calling a cab.

The jury will consider 4 sentences for French, death, life without the 
possibility of parole, 30 years to life and 25 years to life. He also pleaded 
guilty on Oct. 14 to lesser charges of aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, 
gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence the carry a prison sentence 
of up to 27 years.

Butler County Common Pleas Judge Charles Pater will officially sentence French 
on Nov. 16.

(source: Journal-News)

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

Fewer executions point to changing opinions on death penalty----Public support 
for the death penalty has gradually fallen, and the number of times juries and 
courts are willing to impose it also has fallen. According to the Death Penalty 
Information Center, 2014 saw the lowest number of executions in 20 years


The death penalty is in a long, slow decline in Ohio and nationally, according 
to opinion polls and how often it's being used.

Surveys show support for the death sentence is at a 40-year low, said Robert 
Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, and last 
year saw the lowest number of executions in 2 decades. He said people are 
seeing practical problems with putting people to death, including the costs and 
botched executions. There also has been what he called an innocence revolution 
- a wave of death-row inmates later proved not guilty.

"DNA has shown people have gone to death row who clearly didn't commit the 
offense," Dunham said. "Innocent people are being convicted. There are false 
confessions; there are fabricated confessions. That's causing people concern."

Death-penalty supporters argue that harsh justice is a deterrent to crime.

The last execution in Ohio was of convicted murderer Dennis McGuire in 2014. 
Executions were put on hold after McGuire appeared to suffer for 26 minutes 
before dying. The state recently announced the delay of all executions until 
2017 as it searches for hard-to-acquire drugs needed for lethal injection.

Dunham said there used to be the misconception that if a capital convict was 
not executed, he or she eventually could be released on parole. Court rules 
were changed, he added, so that juries are now informed that a life sentence 
would really mean life behind bars.

"Immediately when the juries were told that their sentencing option was life 
without possibility of parole and death, as opposed to just life or death, the 
rate of death sentencing dropped dramatically," he said.

Dunham said FBI figures, confirmed by several studies, show the death penalty 
doesn???t deter crime in any measurable way.

"There actually is no demonstrable effect at all," he said. "In fact, murder 
rates are higher in states that have the death penalty than in states that 
don't have the death penalty."

More information is online at deathpenaltyinfo.org.

(source: Morrow County Sentinel)






MISSOURI:

Supreme Court Grants Stay For Missouri Man On Death Row----Ernest Lee Johnson 
claims the execution drug could cause painful seizures because he still has 
part of a benign tumor in his brain.


The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday put on hold the execution of a Missouri man 
convicted beating 3 people to death with a claw hammer while a lower court 
considers an appeal.

Ernest Lee Johnson claims the execution drug could cause painful seizures 
because he still has part of a benign tumor in his brain, and surgery to remove 
the rest of the tumor in 2008 forced removal of up to 20 percent of his brain 
tissue.

The Supreme Court granted a stay while the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals 
considers whether his complaint was properly dismissed. It wasn't immediately 
clear how quickly the appeals court might rule.

Johnson, 55, had been scheduled to die at 6 p.m. at the Missouri state prison 
in Bonne Terre.

A 2nd appeal, to the Missouri Supreme Court, claims Johnson's life should be 
spared because he is mentally disabled.

The Missouri Attorney General's Office says both claims are without merit.

Johnson was convicted of 3 counts of 1st-degree murder for killing 46-year-old 
Mary Bratcher, 57-year-old Mable Scruggs and 58-year-old Fred Jones during a 
closing-time robbery of a Casey's General Store in Columbia on Feb. 12, 1994. 
Johnson wanted money to buy drugs, authorities said.

All 3 workers were beaten to death with a claw hammer, but Bratcher was also 
stabbed at least 10 times with a screwdriver and Jones was shot in the face.

Johnson was arrested after police found a bank bag, stolen money and store 
receipts at Johnson's home.

Johnson grew up in a troubled home and his attorney, Jeremy Weis, said his IQ 
was measured at 63 while still in elementary school. Testing after his 
conviction measured the IQ at 67, still a level considered mentally disabled.

He was already on death row in 2001 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that 
executing the mentally disabled was unconstitutionally cruel and a new 
sentencing hearing was ordered. Johnson was again sentenced to death in 2003. 
The Missouri Supreme Court tossed that sentence, too, forcing another 
sentencing hearing. In 2006, Johnson was sentenced to death for a 3rd time.

The brain tumor was removed in an operation in 2008. While benign, doctors 
could not remove the entire tumor. Weis said the combination of the remaining 
tumor and the fact that Johnson lost about 1/5 of his brain has left him prone 
to seizures and with difficulty walking.

Missouri's execution drug is a form of pentobarbital believed to be 
manufactured by a compounding pharmacy - the state won't say where it gets it. 
Weis cites a medical review by Dr. Joel Zivot, who examined MRI images of 
Johnson's brain and found "significant brain damage and defects that resulted 
from the tumor and the surgical procedure," according to court filings.

"Mr. Johnson faces a significant medical risk for a serious seizure as the 
direct result of the combination of the Missouri lethal injection protocol and 
Mr. Johnson's permanent and disabling neurologic disease," Zivot wrote.

Court filings by the Attorney General's office note that Missouri has carried 
out 18 "rapid and painless" executions since it went to the one-drug method in 
November 2013.

Other death row inmates have had mixed success in pursuing claims that medical 
conditions should preclude them from execution.

In May 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court stopped the execution of Missouri inmate 
Russell Bucklew, who claimed the execution drug could cause suffering due to a 
rare congenital condition that causes weakened and malformed blood vessels as 
well as tumors in his nose and throat. The case was sent back to U.S. District 
Court, but remains unresolved.

In March, Cecil Clayton claimed a sawmill accident that damaged his brain in 
the 1970s should prohibit execution. The courts disagreed, and Clayton, 74, was 
put to death.

(source: Associated Press)