[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., FLA., OHIO, IND.

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 25



TEXAS:

Texas court gags news coverage of mass murders


The district court in this East Texas town (Palestine) has approved a defense 
attorney's gag order to restrict news coverage of the recent campsite murders 
of six victims, including evidence and testimony presented in pretrial 
proceedings.

The prior-restraint order forbids the news media from reporting "in detail" 
evidence presented to the court by police, prosecutors or witnesses "other than 
reporting that certain persons testified" at pretrial hearings.

It also prohibits participants in the case - the parties, lawyers, law 
enforcement officials, and witnesses - from talking to the news media on the 
grounds such a restriction is necessary to protect defendant William Hudson's 
right to a fair trial.

The gag order was approved Friday without comment by a judge, the same day it 
was submitted by Hudson's court-appointed attorney, Stephen Evans of Palestine.

Surprisingly, news outlets received no advance notice of the motion or the 
court's quickie decision to approve it.

Normally, before a court restricts the news media from publishing information, 
a hearing is conducted before a judge to allow objection to whether a gag order 
is necessary or even constitutional under the First Amendment right to publish 
news.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a landmark 1976 decision in a widely-publicized 
Nebraska murder case, overturned a judge's gag order, declaring the government 
has a heavy burden to prove it is necessary to gag the news media from 
reporting lawfully obtained news no matter what. That ruling characterized a 
gag order as a last resort, not a first option.

The 6 victims of the campsite carnage at Tennessee Colony just northwest of 
Palestine were murdered only 10 days ago. Capital murder charges were filed 
promptly against Hudson, 33, who lived adjacent to the murder scene, and was 
identified by the lone survivor.

Hudson is being held without bail in the Anderson County Jail, awaiting the 
outcome of a grand jury hearing on the case. He faces the death penalty or life 
in prison without chance of parole if convicted.

The court gag order strictly bans the media from taking photographs or video of 
defendant William Mitchell Hudson while he is being transported to court, and 
rules out any photography, televising or radio broadcasting from inside the 
courthouse.

The motion further directs the case judge to hold all pretrial hearings in the 
judge's private chambers, "outside the presence and hearing of the public and 
the press."

Defense attorney Evans said in the gag order motion his client "intends to 
produce evidence during pretrial hearings which might impair the possibility of 
a fair and unprejudiced jury."

(source: Dalton Daily Citizen)






VIRGINIA:

Harvey family killer to remain on death row after judges deny latest appeal


The man who killed the Harvey family in their South Richmond home nearly 10 
years ago will remain on Virginia???s death row. The Federal 4th Circuit Court 
of Appeals has denied killer Ricky Gray???s most recent appeal of his 
conviction and death sentence. Gray filed the appeal before a a 3-judge panel 
in September.

In explaining the appeal's denial, Judge Diaz wrote:

Ricky Jovan Gray appeals the district court's denial of his petition for a writ 
of habeas corpus. His appeal presents 2 questions. First, whether the Supreme 
Court of Virginia, in resolving factual disputes regarding an 
ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim without an evidentiary hearing, made an 
"unreasonable determination of the facts" under the Antiterrorism and Effective 
Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA"), 28 U.S.C. # 2254(d)(2).

Because we find that the state court did not ignore Gray???s evidence or 
otherwise reversibly err in resolving factual disputes on the record, we reject 
this 1st challenge.

The 2nd question is whether Gray may belatedly raise in the district court a 
claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel under the Supreme Court's 
decision in Martinez v. Ryan, 132 S. Ct. 1309 (2012).

We find that the claim Gray seeks to raise was presented to, and decided by, 
the state court. Therefore, it is not subject to de novo review in the district 
court under Martinez.

Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

Senior Circuit Judge Davis disagreed, in part, with the decision to deny Gray's 
appeal:

I agree with my friends in the majority that Ricky Jovan Gray exhausted his 
claim that trial counsel were constitutionally ineffective in failing to 
present evidence during the penalty phase of his trial that he was voluntarily 
intoxicated during the commission of the crimes.

Furthermore, because a "reasonable fact-finder . . . could have found the facts 
necessary to support [Gray's] claim from the evidence presented to the state 
court[]," Winston v. Kelly, 592 F.3d 535, 551 (4th Cir. 2010), I agree with the 
majority that the district court properly dismissed Gray's Martinez claim.

But I disagree, respectfully, with the majority's determination that the 
Supreme Court of Virginia's resolution of disputed issues of fact, based on 
conflicting and partially unaddressed sworn affidavits, without an evidentiary 
hearing, did not amount to an unreasonable determination of the facts under 28 
U.S.C. # 2254(d)(2).

I therefore concur in part and dissent in part.

In his habeas petition to the Supreme Court of Virginia, Gray presented several 
claims of ineffective assistance of counsel.

He grounded one such claim in his trial counsel's alleged failure to undertake 
a reasonable investigation into the circumstances surrounding his confession. 
Gray alleged that, during the course of his January 7, 2006 police 
interrogation, he had repeatedly requested an attorney and a phone call, but 
the police denied both requests, continued the interrogation, and ultimately 
obtained his written confession.

Gray also asserted that he had told the police that he could not remember many 
details of the crimes because of his drug use during the day in question.

Gray claimed that the police had responded by showing him the statement of one 
of his accomplices, Ray Dandridge, and by helping Gray fashion his own 
confession in reliance on many of the details included in Dandridge's 
statement.

Importantly, Gray alleged in his habeas petition that he had expressly informed 
his trial counsel of the details surrounding his interrogation and confession 
during a February 10, 2006 meeting.

Even though Gray had relayed this information, his trial counsel allegedly 
failed to conduct a reasonable investigation into these matters.

Had his trial counsel adequately investigated the circumstances surrounding 
Gray's interrogation and confession, Gray asserted, his trial counsel could 
have moved to suppress his confession or used the results of the investigation 
to impeach the testimony of Detective Howard Peterman during trial.

Gray supported his ineffective assistance of counsel claim and his recollection 
of the January 7, 2006 police interrogation and confession with the affidavit 
of Melvin B. Knight. Knight was an investigator with the Office of the Capital 
Defender of the Central Region of Virginia and was tasked with assisting Gray's 
trial counsel in preparing Gray's defense.

Prior to his employment with the Office of the Capital Defender, Knight was a 
law enforcement officer with the City of Richmond Police Department for more 
than 25 years.

In his affidavit, Knight recounted his February 10, 2006 interview with Gray 
and explained that Gray had expressly stated that he had asked for an attorney 
and a phone call during his questioning by police. Knight also remembered Gray 
mentioning that he could not remember many details of the crimes because he had 
been high on a combination of marijuana, ecstasy, and PCP at the time the 
crimes were committed.

Gray also indicated, according to Knight, that he had shared this information 
with the police. Gray then told Knight that, because he had been unable to 
remember many details of the crimes during his interrogation, the police had 
assisted Gray in crafting a written statement based upon the statement prepared 
by Dandridge. In short, a plausibly credible witness offered sworn facts more 
than trivially corroborative of Gray's allegations supporting a claim of 
ineffective assistance.

The crime

On New Year's Day 2006, Bryan and Kathryn Harvey and their 2 young daughters 
were bound, beaten and stabbed inside the basement of their South Richmond 
home. The home was also set on fire. Gray confessed his role in murders to 
police. A jury later convicted Gray and sentenced him to death. An execution 
date could not be set until Gray exhausted all his appeal possibilities.

(source: WTVR news)






FLORIDA:

Could student accused of killing parents face death penalty?


There are only 5 women on Florida's death row. Could 21-year-old Nicole 
Nachtman be next?

Nachtman, a student at Florida State University, is charged with killing her 
parents in August.

Before Nachtman goes to trial, prosecutors must decide whether they will seek 
the death penalty. It's not a simple decision.

Defense Attorney Rick Terrana has handled 30 death penalty cases in his legal 
career. The most notorious was the case of Adam Davis, who killed his 
girlfriend's mother by injecting her with bleach and stabbing her.

He says the decision to seek the death penalty in any case isn't left up to 1 
person. The decision is made by a committee.

The committee includes Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober, his chief 
assistant and the felony chiefs of each division.

Terrana said it's a life and death decision that needs a lot of voices.

"You want nothing less than a committee deciding this. You certainly don't want 
1 person making this decision unilaterally on whether someone lives or dies. 
Imagine if that person had a bad day at home or in the office," said Terrana.

Investigators said Nachtman killed her step dad first, and then waited until 
her mother returned home the next day and killed her too.

Terrana said the committee will weigh whether the murders were "especially 
heinous, atrocious or cruel" and whether they were calculated or premeditated.

The Public Defender's Office represents Nachtman. They will weigh in on the 
decision as well.

"I'm sure they are diving into the mental state of this defendant as deep as 
anyone could ever look into that," said Terrana.

The committee doesn't vote, but rather comes to a consensus on whether the case 
is death-penalty worthy. It's a decision that Terrana said should never be 
rushed.

Nachtman is due back in court on December 10th. Prosecutors are expected to 
announce their decision then.

(source: Fox News)






OHIO:

Eluding death: Ohio prosecutors charge far fewer capital murder cases


Prosecutors across Ohio are changing the way they charge suspected killers. 
They are indicting far fewer with the death penalty and pushing more sentences 
of life in prison without parole.

The number of capital murder indictments filed across the state since 2010 has 
plummeted by 77 %, as just 19 have been brought this year.

During the same time period, the number of inmates sentenced to life without 
parole has spiked 92 %, according to a Plain Dealer examination of state prison 
records and other public documents.

The Ohio numbers mirror a national trend involving the death penalty. Legal 
experts cited the high costs of taking a capital case to trial. They also said 
decades of appeals make the death penalty extremely burdensome on the criminal 
justice system and traumatic for victims' families.

Many inmates who will spend their lives behind bars are like Robert Clark, 30, 
who robbed and killed an elderly couple outside their rural Ohio home in 
January. Others are like Julian Whitaker, 35, who killed a 5-year-old boy by 
slashing his throat in the child's Cleveland home in June 2011.

As the death penalty in Ohio sits stalled in a moratorium over the drugs used 
in executions, the emerging trends of how prosecutors handle aggravated murder 
cases offer insight into the way justice is meted out in Ohio courtrooms.

"We simply are not charging people with the death penalty like we once did,'' 
said Michael Benza, a senior instructor of law at the Case Western Reserve 
University School of Law.

Ohio has 141 inmates on death row, with the most, 25, from Hamilton County, in 
Southwest Ohio and home to Cincinnati. Cuyahoga County has 22, and records show 
it has sent far fewer inmates to death row in recent years.

Since late 2012, when Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty took office, 5 men have 
been indicted on death-penalty charges. But there were 75 cases that met the 
criteria for the penalty, according to prosecutors' records. That means 
McGinty's office pushed the death penalty in less than 7 % of the possible 
cases.

The 5 indicted are:

* Hernandez Warren, 60, who was sentenced in May 2014 to life in prison for 
raping and killing 14-year-old Gloria Pointer in 1984. He pleaded guilty in a 
deal with prosecutors and will get his 1st chance of parole in 30 years.

* Michael Madison, 38, who is accused of killing 3 women in 2013 in East 
Cleveland. His trial is pending.

* Ronald Hillman, 47, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole for 
the August 2014 rape and slaying of Michaela Diemer. He pleaded guilty and was 
sentenced in August.

* James McAlpine, 32, who was sentenced to life in prison in May 2014 for 
killing 2 people years earlier. His 1st chance of parole is in 34 years.

* Douglas Shine, 20, who is accused of killing 3 men at a Warrensville Heights' 
barbershop in February. His case is pending.

Compare McGinty's record to his predecessor, Bill Mason: From 2009 through much 
of 2012, Mason's office indicted 89 death-penalty cases out of a possible 114 
that met the requirements for the charge, or 78 %, according to prosecutors' 
records.

McGinty told The Plain Dealer that he believes in the death penalty when going 
after the worst of the worst.

"The death penalty used in the correct case - a case that leaves no doubt - is, 
I believe, a strong deterrent to crime,'' McGinty said. "But the endless 
appeals process has undermined the death penalty.

"In every case, I have to ask, 'Are we going to survive this?' We have to take 
a case to a judge and jury and then face 25 years of appeals. Is it fair to 
families of victims? Is it fair putting them through a quarter century of 
appeals?''

Since taking office, McGinty has used an internal office review committee to 
examine whether the death penalty is justified in each case brought to his 
office.

Specifically, the panel looks at whether the crime fits the letter and spirit 
of the law, whether a reasonable jury would return a guilty verdict and whether 
it would be worth the resources to spend decades fighting the appeals. Based on 
the panel's recommendation and the family's wishes, McGinty makes the decision.

Several attempts to reach Mason were unsuccessful. But in 2008, his then-office 
spokesman summed up Mason's policy in an interview with the Associated Press: 
"If a defendant is eligible for the death penalty, the defendant is charged 
with the death penalty.''

Under state law, crimes that can qualify for death-penalty charges include 
killing a person while committing another crime, such as rape, robbery or 
burglary and if the slaying involves a police officer.

Emerging trends

Life in prison without parole became an option to jurors in death-penalty cases 
in 1995. Ten years later, state lawmakers made it possible for prosecutors to 
seek the life-without-parole sentence in other murder cases.

Years later, the trends have become quite clear.

* Death-penalty indictments dropped 77 %, going from 81 in 2010 to 19 this 
year, according to records from the Ohio Public Defender's Office.

* The number of felons convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison 
without parole has jumped 92 %, going from 283 in January 2010 to 544 in 
October, according to state prison records. The inmates make up about 1 % of 
the 50,370 inmates in the system.

* It costs $22,836 a year to house an inmate in Ohio. Since there are 544 
serving sentences of life without parole, that means the total dollar amount 
for the group is $12.4 million a year. Because many are under the age of 35, 
the costs will grow for years to come.

"Most prosecutors have become much more circumspect about death-penalty 
cases.''

But counties and the state also bear major costs in death-penalty trials. The 
trials can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars prosecuting and defending 
complex cases at trial - and much more during the appeals process.

Ohioans to Stop Executions cited a study by WHIO-TV in Dayton that found it 
costs $3 million to execute a person in Ohio - from arrest to death. By 
comparison, the television station found, it costs $1 million to keep an inmate 
in prison for the rest of his or her life.

A study of the death-sentence costs in Maryland found similar dollar amounts, 
according to the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, prosecutors across the country have filed far fewer indictments 
seeking the death penalty in recent years, said Robert Dunham, the executive 
director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

He cited costs, the strain on victims' families and the waning public sentiment 
of the death sentence.

"Most prosecutors have become much more circumspect about death-penalty 
cases,'' Dunham said. "The single most likely outcome of a capital case after a 
defendant has been sentenced to death is not that he will be executed but that 
the conviction or sentence will be overturned.''

The Death Penalty Information Center's statistics show that the number of 
inmates sentenced to death nationally has dropped 35 percent since 2010, when 
judges ordered 114 to be executed. Last year, the number fell to 73.

Also, the number of inmates executed has dropped by nearly 50 % since 2010, 
when 52 were put to death. So far this year, 27 have died, according to the 
center's statistics.

'A good thing'

For years, Ohio Public Defender Tim Young has pushed the sentence of life 
without parole.

"It is a good thing as an alternative to the death penalty for a myriad of 
reasons,'' Young said. "There's closure for the family, and it is cheaper to 
put a person in prison for life than litigating the case for 15 to 20 years.

"At the end of the day, it's a good thing for our society.''

Others disagree.

"Yes, life without parole is the lesser of 2 evils, but we have to be careful 
of applauding these sentences,'' said Ashley Nellis, the senior researcher at 
the Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C., group that seeks criminal justice 
reform.

"It would be wrong to simply toss them away and forget about them.''

Nellis said she is not opposed to sending the most violent convicts to prison 
for life. But she believes that their cases should be reviewed.

"These people should not be kicked to the curb,'' she said. "Life in prison is 
a death sentence, without the execution.''

If there is enough evidence that shows the inmates have grown and matured 
behind bars, Nellis said, then they should receive consideration before the 
parole board or judge.

Stephen JohnsonGrove, the deputy director of the Ohio Justice and Policy 
Center, agreed.

"After a certain point, we're not gaining any safety or moral vindication by 
keeping people in prison,'' said JohnsonGrove, whose agency is a nonprofit law 
office in Cincinnati that focuses on criminal justice reform. "By and large, 
life without parole is over-used.''

A severe sentence

Some critics, however, believe the death penalty is the best punishment for a 
heinous killer. Others say life in prison without parole is even more severe.

"It is true that they get three hots, a cot and cable television,'' McGinty 
said. "But prison is a godawful place. There's an argument that life without 
parole is a far greater punishment than the death penalty. Death is the easy 
way out.''

Robert Clark avoided the death penalty.

Prosecutors in rural Coshocton County, which is about 2 hours south of 
Cleveland, indicted Clark, 30, on death-penalty charges for the brutal attack 
on Doyle and Lillian Chumney of Strasburg in January. Doyle Chumney was 88; his 
wife was 79.

Clark broke into their home, robbed the couple, shot them and then torched 
their car with them inside. As the case was set to go to trial in August, Clark 
entered a plea agreement that spared him the death house.

Julian Whitaker also was spared. He admitted in court that he slashed the neck 
of 5-year-old Larvelle Smith in June 2011 in what Whitaker said was a 
drug-fueled rage. After Whitaker took a plea deal, a judge sentenced him to 
life in prison without parole.

"We have to be extremely selective because of the ever-changing realities of 
the situation,'' McGinty said. "We can only go after the worst of the worst 
cases that have the highest degree of evidence.''

(source: cleveland.com)






INDIANA:

Prosecutors not ruling out death penalty for defendants in Blackburn murder


The 2 men facing murder charges in the slaying of an Indianapolis pastor's wife 
have said little upon facing a judge for the 1st time since their arrest.

A Marion County judge entered not guilty pleas for 18-year-old Larry Taylor Jr. 
and 21-year-old Jalen Watson during a hearing on Tuesday morning.

A decision is yet to be made whether the death penalty will be sought against 
the 2 men. On Monday, Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said his office will 
review evidence in the coming weeks and meet with the family of Amanda 
Blackburn before making a death penalty decision.

The Associated Press reports that, the two men quietly answered the judge's 
questions about whether they understood the charges, but didn't say anything 
about the accusations that they broke into the home of 28-year-old Blackburn.

Indianapolis police announced Monday the arrest of Mr. Taylor on murder charges 
in Blackburn's killing. Later that day, police announced they had taken 2 
additional men into custody in relation to a string of robberies in the area 
where Ms. Blackburn was killed.

According to court records, Taylor was charged with 3 counts of murder as well 
as burglary, theft, auto theft, and carrying a handgun without a license. Mr. 
Watson was charged with 2 counts of murder as well as burglary, theft, robbery 
resulting in serious bodily injury, and auto theft.

The arrests came nearly 2 weeks after Blackburn's husband, Pastor Davey 
Blackburn, found his wife critically injured after being shot in the head 
inside her house on Nov. 10 and died the following day. She was 13 weeks 
pregnant and the baby did not survive. Mr. Curry says he hasn't determined yet 
whether to pursue charges related to the death of the unborn child.

The Blackburns, moved to Indianapolis from South Carolina in 2012 and founded 
Resonate Church, an independent Christian church. Mr. Blackburn released a 
statement Monday after receiving news of the arrests via the church Facebook 
page:

"Though it does not undo the pain we are feeling, I was extremely relieved 
toget the news of the arrest made last night of Amanda's killer. The 
investigators have assured me they have a solidly-built case to ensurejustice 
is levied and the process is expedited. The family and I couldn't be more 
thankful for the level of compassion and professionalism the IMPD and 
investigators have shown us through the last couple of weeks. My hopeis for 3 
things in the weeks and months to come:

(1) That the court system would have wisdom on how to prosecute thisman, so 
that no one else endures the pain Amanda and our family havehad to endure 
because of his actions.

(2) That through all of this and although there will be great consequences for 
his actions, he would become truly sorry for what he has done and would even 
begin to experience the life-transforming power of the Graceand Mercy of Jesus 
Christ.

(3) That Jesus would give me and our family a heart of forgiveness.

Though everything inside of me wants to hate, be angry, and slip into despair I 
choose the route of forgiveness, grace and hope. If there is one thing I've 
learned from Amanda in the 10 years we were together, it's this: Choosing to 
let my emotions drive my decisions is recipe for a hopeless and fruitless life. 
Today I am deciding to love, not hate. Today I am deciding to extend 
forgiveness, not bitterness. Today I am deciding to hope, not despair. By 
Jesus' power at work within us, the best is STILL yet to come. Even when I 
don't see it, I believe it to be true.

(source: Christian Science Monitor)

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

No, Amanda Blackburn's accused killers aren't 'animals'


The legal analyst for FOX News grew more agitated the longer she spoke Tuesday 
night about a murder case that has horrified Indy for more than 2 weeks.

"They got rid of the electric chair in Indiana in 1995," Katie Phang, a 
Miami-based trial lawyer and regular guest on Greta Van Susteren's talk show, 
said. "And I think frankly they should bring it back for these 3 animals that 
were involved in the murder of Amanda Blackburn."

Let's think about that comment, echoed by others in our city. Not to debate the 
ethics of the death penalty, or to argue over whether a particular means of 
execution is more appropriate than another (Indiana uses lethal injection).

And not about whether an officer of the court should have publicly convicted 
suspects immediately after their arrest. (For the record, only 2 men, not 3, 
have been charged in Blackburn's murder thus far).

No, I want to focus on the use of the word "animals" to describe Amanda's 
accused killers.

It's the wrong word, and, more important, it's one that sends the wrong 
message.

Hear me out, please. I am in no way defending those accused of this barbaric 
crime. If convicted, these men should never taste another day of freedom again. 
And if Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry does decide to pursue the death 
penalty, I won't object.

But I do object to using words such as "animal" to dehumanize the accused - not 
for their sake. But for our own.

The fact is these young men are products of our community. They grew in our 
midst from the innocent children we all are at birth to become the dangerous 
predators they appear to be today. They attended our schools, lived in our 
neighborhoods, mingled with the rest of us on our streets.

As ugly as it is think about: Our city, parts of our culture, helped to mold 
them into criminals so wanton that they invaded homes, terrorized the innocent, 
and, in a last despicable act, apparently murdered a young woman and her unborn 
child.

Those facts should prompt us to ask why this happened in our city? Why has Indy 
suffered through another year marred by rampant violence? Why are we losing so 
many of our children to criminal depravity? Why have we failed as a community 
to successfully intervene in so many wasted lives?

An earlier conversation about such questions lingers in my mind. Jay Height, 
who for 20 years has poured himself into trying to rescue thousands of young 
men and women from paths to destruction on Indy'
Eastside, reminded me of another crime that shocked Indy at the time.

"Remember the 4th of July shooting in Downtown a couple of years ago? The 
shooter was nicknamed "Monster," Height said this spring. "These are our 
children. Monster is our kid. We need to understand that every kid is going to 
be mentored by somebody. The question is by who?"

Compare the idea of "Monster is our kid" to that of execute "these 3 animals."

One approach speaks to collective ownership - not of the crime, of course, but 
of the opportunity and the obligation to work together to prevent future 
horrific acts. To step in as neighbors, coaches, tutors and mentors when 
families fail; to invest generously in organizations like Height's Shepherd 
Community Center; to insist as citizens and voters that elected leaders reform 
the justice system.

The other approach speaks of distancing ourselves from the sicknesses that give 
rise to the violence that plagues our city day after day, year after year.

Ownership is hard and messy; distancing is easier and cleaner. But we can't 
distance ourselves. This is our home, our beloved city. And we must fight for 
it together.

So, by all means, if convicted, let's punish Amanda Blackburn's killers 
severely. They deserve it, and we must demand it.

But our work doesn't come close to stopping there.

(source: Commentary, Tim Swarens, Indianapolis Star)