[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----COLO., ARIZ., ORE., USA

[Rick Halperin]

April 20



COLORADO:

Aurora theater shooting trial cost taxpayers at least $3 million----Final cost 
of James Holmes' trial in the Aurora theater shooting likely won't ever be 
known


Jailing, evaluating and prosecuting the man who committed the Aurora movie 
theater shooting cost taxpayers at least $3 million, but the final expense of 
one of the mostly closely watched court cases in Colorado history may never be 
known.

The $3 million tab was compiled by The Denver Post following multiple 
open-records requests over the past year. It covers the amount spent from 2012 
through 2015 specifically on preparing for and seeing through the trial of 
James Holmes.

Nearly $1.6 million of the cost was covered by federal grants.

When including the salaries of judges, prosecutors, sheriff's deputies and 
other government employees who spent most or all of their time on the case - 
but who would have been paid regardless - the total cost rises to more than $7 
million.

And there's still a big chunk of expense missing from that amount. The state's 
taxpayer-funded public defenders - who represented Holmes - are not required to 
disclose what they spend on a case. Doing so, they say, would violate ethics 
rules and subject poor defendants to lower standards of attorney-client 
confidentiality.

Generally, the Office of the State Public Defender reports having spent nearly 
$2 million on death-penalty and potential death-penalty cases since July 2002, 
not including staff salaries.

The theater shooting trial was one of the longest in state history. Prosecutors 
sought the death penalty, and Holmes, who pleaded not guilty by reason of 
insanity, underwent 2 psychiatric evaluations by state-appointed experts - at a 
cost of more than $600,000 to the state Department of Human Services. Holmes 
was ultimately found guilty of murdering 12 people and trying to murder 70 more 
in the July 2012 attack on the Century Aurora 16 movie theater; he was 
sentenced to life in prison without parole in August.

While the case prompted public debates about the cost of the death penalty and 
mental health evaluations, the single biggest expense that's been reported was 
for providing victims' assistance services. The Arapahoe County district 
attorney's office spent nearly $1.2 million on salaries for victims' advocates, 
travel expenses for victims to attend the trial and other costs. All of those 
costs were covered by a federal grant.

Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler, whose office published its 
close-to-final cost figures last week, said the costs were about in line with 
what he expected. In addition to the federal grant, the state government 
appropriated about $500,000 to cover trial-related costs for the district 
attorney's office. He said more than half of what his office spent on the case 
was spent before the trial even began one year ago this month, and he rejected 
the criticism that seeking the death penalty ballooned the trial's price tag. 
Instead, Brauchler said the case was expensive because of the number of victims 
involved.

"He made that many victims," Brauchler said, referring to Holmes. "That's not a 
function of anything I picked. He made those victims."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Costs of the Aurora Theater Shooting Trial:

--18th Judicial District Attorney's Office, not including staff salaries: $1.73 
million ($1.17 million covered by grant for victims' assistance services and 
$543,000 covered by state funding)

--Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office, not including regular-time staff salaries: 
$735,000 ($403,000 covered by grant)

--Colorado Judicial Branch: $108,696

--Colorado Department of Human Services (for psychiatric evaluations): $612,000

(source: Denver Post)






ARIZONA:

Supervisors given overview of death penalty's cost to county


The county supervisors were given an insight Monday on the expensive cost of 
trying a death penalty criminal case.

The board voted to authorize up to $344,000 in additional spending to cover the 
cost of 2 death penalty cases that are pending in Mohave County, additional 
jury trials and the travel costs for the North Canyon constable.

Indigent Defense Administrator Blake Schritter said it will cost about $380,000 
this fiscal year to try 2 death penalty cases plus 3 other death penalty cases 
that are pending on appeals. He also expects that same amount for the next 
fiscal year. The 2 pending death penalty cases alone have cost the county about 
$239,000 so far in the current fiscal year.

District 2 Sup. Hildy Angius, who supports the death penalty, asked what the 
process is in seeking the death penalty in a murder case.

County Attorney Matt Smith explained that he and several other prosecutors will 
sit down to determine the strengths or weaknesses of the case. The prosecutor 
will also look at aggravating factors and how strong the defense's mitigating 
factors are.

There are 13 aggravating factors, including if the victim is a child or is 
older than 70 years, if the suspect is on parole when committing the murder or 
if the murder was cruel and heinous. The defense is also required to have 2 
defense attorneys, however, only 1 prosecutor handles the state's case, Smith 
said.

Smith also said his office is not required to look at the costs to the county 
in seeking the death penalty but it does. He also said the legislature would be 
the one to eliminate the death penalty for the state.

Only 1 Mohave County defendant, Daniel Cook, has been executed during the 
almost 29 years that Smith has worked as a prosecutor. Mohave County has 7 
defendants on death row, the longest being on death row since 1988.

District 5 Sup. Steve Moss said in his opinion the state should not ban the 
death penalty since death penalty opponents would then try to change a natural 
life sentence to one where a convicted murderer has a chance for release.

"We can't step back an inch," Moss said

Justin James Rector of Bullhead City and Darrell Bryant Ketchner of Kingman are 
the 2 defendants currently charged with 1st-degree murder and who face the 
death penalty if convicted of that charge.

The supervisors also approved $12,000 to cover the cost of additional jury 
trials for the 2015-16 fiscal year. There were 38 jury trials in 2012 and 76 
jury trials in 2015. The current budget includes costs for 66 jury trials; 
however, the $12,000 shortfall is projected.

Also approved was $2,000 for the additional travel costs for the North Canyon 
constable because of the increased volume of service for the constable in the 
Arizona Strip.

(source: Mohave Valley Daily News)






OREGON:

Prosecutor says evidence of guilt is "overwhelming" in capital murder 
trial----A.J. Scott Nelson faces potential death penalty if convicted of 
aggravated murder


A Lane County jury on Tuesday began hearing evidence in a capital murder trial 
for a 26-year-old military veteran charged with playing a key role in the 
kidnap, robbery and brutal killing of a Eugene man in 2012.

Prosecutor David Schwartz suggested in an opening statement in A.J. Scott 
Nelson's murder trial that jurors should have little difficulty returning 
guilty verdicts in the case.

"The evidence of his guilt will be overwhelming," Schwartz told the jury.

Nelson was 1 of 3 people arrested and charged in the August 2012 slaying of 
22-year-old Celestino "Tino" Gutierrez Jr. He faces a potential death sentence 
if convicted of aggravated murder.

The plot's mastermind, David Ray Taylor, was sentenced to death after a trial 
in 2014. The 3rd person charged in the case, Mercedes Crabtree, is serving life 
in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years. She was 18 when the 
crimes occurred.

Schwartz said the trio worked together on a plan to kidnap a stranger in order 
to steal the victim's car for use in a bank robbery.

Authorities say Taylor and Nelson carried out an armed, takeover-style robbery 
at a bank in Mapleton hours after they killed Gutierrez and then dismembered 
his body at Taylor's home off Highway 99 in Eugene. Gutierrez's car served as a 
getaway vehicle in the heist.

Schwartz told jurors that he expects Nelson's lawyers will "try to excuse the 
unexcusable" by offering various defenses that may include contending that 
Taylor forced Nelson to participate in the slaying.

But those attempts "will fail," the prosecutor predicted.

Chris Clayhold, a public defender representing Nelson, said Tuesday in his 
opening statement that his client reluctantly became involved in the murder 
after Taylor had threatened to kill both him and Crabtree if they didn't go 
along with the plan.

"At no time during this case did Mr. Nelson share the intent, the desire or the 
purpose of David Ray Taylor to kill another human being," Clayhold said. "Mr. 
Nelson never had that intent."

Taylor, now 60, spent 27 years in prison for a 1977 murder in Lane County. He 
was released on parole in 2004 and stayed out of major trouble with the law 
until he was arrested on murder charges in Gutierrez's death.

Nelson and Crabtree both lived in the Portland area prior to their arrests. 
Nelson had served previously with the Army, and received a Purple Heart medal 
after his squad's armored vehicle was destroyed by a roadside bomb during a 
combat tour in Afghanistan in 2009. Nelson was injured in the blast.

Clayhold told the jury that his client returned from combat with "a traumatized 
mind" and displayed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder after the 
explosion. Nelson was discharged from the military in 2012.

Nelson had traveled with Crabtree to Eugene to help Taylor rob the Mapleton 
bank, but the original robbery plan failed when a car they had obtained for use 
as a getaway vehicle apparently broke down near Fern Ridge Lake. According to 
testimony in Taylor's trial, Taylor then came up with an alternate plan to 
steal a vehicle and had Crabtree and Nelson stage an argument outside a Eugene 
tavern, in order to lure Gutierrez into offering Crabtree a ride.

Gutierrez unwittingly drove Crabtree to Taylor's home, then followed her into 
the residence.

Crabtree, who pleaded guilty to the murder in 2013 and agreed in her plea deal 
to testify against both Nelson and Taylor, testified at Taylor's trial that 
after Gutierrez went into the house, Nelson - at Taylor's direction - bound 
Gutierrez with electrical wire and a belt, pushed a crossbow bolt through one 
of the victim's ears and choked him.

After mocking Nelson for failing to kill Gutierrez swiftly, Taylor wrapped a 
metal chain around Gutierrez's neck and pulled on it until the victim stopped 
breathing, Crabtree told the jury in Taylor's case.

Crabtree said Nelson went into a brief seizure as he and Taylor cut up the 
body, and came out of it confused about what he had done.

Gutierrez's body was later found buried off a remote forest road in the Coast 
Range west of Eugene.

Prosecutors on Tuesday called Gutierrez's mother, Rose Gutierrez of Eugene, to 
testify briefly about the night of Aug. 2, 2012, when her son went out with 
friends but didn't return home afterward. As she did in Taylor's trial, Rose 
Gutierrez recounted how she had repeatedly tried without success to contact the 
youngest of her 3 children - who she referred to as "little Tino" in testimony 
- by phone and then drove around Eugene looking for him.

On the evening of Aug. 3, hours after her son's car was used in the Mapleton 
bank robbery, she filed a missing-person report with Eugene police.

Also testifying Tuesday were employees of the Siuslaw Bank branch that 
authorities say Taylor and Nelson robbed hours after killing Gutierrez.

Nelson's trial continues Wednesday. It is expected to take several weeks to 
complete.

(source: The Register-Guard)






USA:

Stop killing the innocent


I have had deep concerns about the death penalty for many years, but I could 
always find reasons not to take a strong stand. But 2 weeks ago I read Just 
Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.

I was astonished and horrified by Stevenson's story of his life work: 
representing the poor and powerless wrongly convicted of serious crimes. And 
now I know why we must abolish the death penalty. I have no more doubts; I am 
no longer uncertain.

We know that the United States has an enviable criminal justice system. But we 
know our system is seriously flawed. We have now seen hundreds of people on 
Death Row exonerated by innocence projects like Stevenson's. And we know that 
we have executed many who were innocent of the crimes for which they were 
convicted.

We can stop that. Our criminal justice system is operated by humans, often 
plagued by biases, prejudices, ignorance, meanness and incompetence. So be it. 
We cannot guarantee perfection. But we can stop killing innocent people caught 
up in this imperfect but necessary system.

Marilyn S. Daniel

Versailles

(source: Letter to the Editor, kentucky.com)