[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MO., WASH., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 25



MISSOURI:

Amnesty International USA Statement on Reggie Clemons


The Missouri Supreme Court yesterday threw out the 1st-degree murder conviction 
and death sentence of Reggie Clemons, who was sentenced to death in St. Louis 
as an accomplice to a 1991 murder of 2 young women. Steven W. Hawkins, 
executive director of Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), issued the following 
statement in response:

"Reggie Clemons' case has long highlighted many of the flaws in the U.S. death 
penalty system. The decision by the Missouri Supreme Court is an 
acknowledgement of the deeply flawed process that led to his death sentence. 
>From the police investigation to the appeals process, his case was dogged by 
serious problems, allegedly including police brutality, racial bias, a stacked 
jury and prosecutorial misconduct.

"Clemons says he confessed as the result of a violent police interrogation. The 
arraigning judge even sent him to the emergency room because of his injured 
appearance. Clemons later retracted his confession and has maintained his 
innocence throughout.

"4 federal judges found the conduct of the prosecutor in the case to be 
'abusive and boorish,' and Clemons' legal representation was inadequate. His 
lead attorney was later suspended from practicing law following numerous 
complaints.

"The question of race overshadowed the investigation and trial as well. Clemons 
was 1 of 3 black defendants convicted of killing the 2 white victims, and both 
key witnesses were white. Blacks were disproportionately dismissed during jury 
selection.

"AIUSA activists have worked for years to draw attention to this case. 
Yesterday's ruling removes the threat of death that has been hanging over 
Clemons for the past 2 decades. His future is uncertain, but we will work to 
ensure that he never again faces the death penalty."

Amnesty International USA opposes the death penalty in all cases without 
exception as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. As of today, 
140 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

Last year, executions in the United States were at a 20-year low, and death 
sentences were at their lowest level since 1976. Nineteen states plus the 
District of Columbia have banned capital punishment, and seven other states 
have not carried out an execution in 10 years. Missouri executed 10 prisoners 
last year, more than any other state and tied with Texas, making it one of just 
a handful of states that continue to aggressively pursue executions.

(source: Amnesty International USA)






WASHINGTON:

Scot jailed in US for killing could be freed or sentenced to death in landmark 
case


A Scottish man jailed in the US for 3 decades is awaiting a decision that could 
set him free or see him retried and sentenced to death in a landmark case that 
may result in the erosion of protections afforded by the 6th and 14th 
amendments of the Constitution.

Tom Richey was jailed in 1987 aged 18 for shooting 2 people and killing 1 while 
on the psychoactive drug LSD The Herald reports.

He was spared the death penalty and instead handed a 65 year prison sentence, 
but could now end up on death row.

In 2008 Mr Richey's older brother Kenny was freed from death row after he 
served 21 years in prison in Ohio for starting a fire that killed a 2-year-old 
baby girl.

At the age of 17, Mr Richey's flew to the US to enlist in the US Special 
Forcesnear Tacoma in Washington State.

His court-appointed lawyer, Larry Nichols, said: "The day following the 
shootings, Tom turned himself in and confessed, which left me few cards to play 
with.

"65 years is 3 times higher than the standard sentence for murder, but it's a 
great deal better than the death penalty."

In a telephone interview from Washington State Penitentiary Mr Richey told The 
Herald: "Since entering prison, I've focused on educating myself and being a 
better person.

"People always judge you by your worst moment, but we're a sum of many parts.

"That's not to say I'm marginalising what I did. I senselessly took a life and 
there's no undoing that, ever."

In 2004, the US Supreme Court announced that the procedure used to sentence 
defendants like Mr Richey was unlawful - but the ruling did not have 
retrospective effect.

He said: "It disappointed me, but I'm in no position to complain. Whether the 
length of my sentence is unlawful doesn't mean it wasn't the right price I 
deserve to pay.

"But I am human, so I still feel human desires, like the desire to be free."

The Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held last November that he was 
entitled to a federal review, with a decision due from the Western District 
Court in Washington in the coming weeks.

Peter Aveno, a lawyer assigned to the Northwest Federal Public Defende's Office 
in Seattle explained the importance of the case.

He said: "Richey's case is the first on record in the history of American 
jurisprudence, where a court has arbitrarily entered a judgment of conviction 
without satisfying the necessities of due process, such as the right to a trial 
by a jury of one's peers.

"If the district court doesn't order the state court to vacate the conviction, 
then they'll effectively open the door to states to abolish the due process 
protections guaranteed by the 6th and 14th Amendments of the US Constitution."

While Mr Richey expects to be freed, Mr Nichols did not think the case would be 
clear cut.

He said: "In the event Tom's conviction is vacated, he'll return to square one.

"He'll face the remaining original murder charge, a capital offence, and be 
subject to the death penalty again.

"Of course, it would be difficult to try such an old case, where evidence has 
been destroyed and witnesses have passed away and dispersed."

(source: Scottish Legal News)






USA:

Deadline set for death penalty decision in Montana killings


Prosecutors will have until next summer to decide whether to seek the death 
penalty against a Wyoming teenager charged with a double slaying on Montana's 
Crow Indian Reservation, after defense attorneys on Tuesday requested more time 
to argue against making it a capital case.

"The goal here is to stop this now," said Donald Knight, a Colorado attorney 
specializing in the death penalty and member of the defense team. "We are 
looking to get all the information we can get in that time frame."

Authorities accuse Jesus Deniz Mendoza, 18, of fatally shooting Jason and Tana 
Shane and wounding their daughter on July 29. The family had stopped to help 
Mendoza along a rural roadway near Pryor.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters gave the defense team until early May to 
present their arguments against the death penalty to prosecutors.

Another of Mendoza's attorneys, David Merchant, said during a court hearing in 
Billings that interviews need to be conducted with relatives of the defendant, 
who was born in Mexico and still has family there. He had been living in 
Worland, Wyoming at the time of the shootings.

Mendoza faces 12 criminal charges including 2 counts of 1st-degree murder, 
carjacking, attempted murder and multiple assault and firearms charges. He's 
pleaded not guilty.

The U.S. Attorney's Office now has until July 1 to say whether it intends to 
seek Mendoza's death if he were convicted. That decision will be up to U.S. 
Attorney General Loretta Lynch or her successor, following a review by a panel 
known as the Capital Review Committee.

The case landed in federal court because the U.S. Justice Department has 
jurisdiction over major crimes in Indian country.

Watters set a tentative Sept. 6 trial date. That date would be canceled and 
likely pushed back if the U.S. Attorney's Office pursues a death sentence.

A recommendation on the death penalty already has been submitted by 
prosecutors, but it could be amended if the defense provides additional 
information, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Suek said. Suek did not disclose the 
recommendation.

About a dozen relatives of the victims attended Tuesday's hearing. Some 
expressed frustration with the months-long wait for a trial, but declined to 
comment further.

In a separate ruling, Watters turned down a request from prosecutors seeking a 
court order for the release of Mendoza's substance-abuse treatment records.

The records sought covered past treatment, not ongoing treatment, and 
prosecutors said they were of "paramount interest" as they decide on the 
appropriate punishment to seek against Mendoza.

Mendoza's attorneys objected, saying the information was protected under 
federal law and should be kept confidential. Watters agreed.

"The records could contain information that may give the government reason to 
pursue the death penalty," the judge wrote in a Nov. 13 ruling. "That risk of 
injury to the defendant outweighs the public???s interest and need for 
disclosure."

The Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington, D.C.-based organization 
that studies death penalty issues, counts 62 people currently on federal death 
row, none of them for crimes committed in Montana. The most recent addition is 
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted earlier this year in the 2013 Boston 
Marathon bombing.

Mendoza faces a separate accusation of attempted second degree murder in 
Washakie County, Wyoming, where authorities say he shot a man at a campground 
near the small town of Ten Sleep during a 2013 robbery attempt.

(source: Associated Press)