[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.H., GA., MISS., OHIO

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 21




TEXAS:

Recommendations for candidates vying for the state's 2 unknown top courts


Republicans have several contested races for the state's top 2 courts on the 
March 1 Brazos County ballot.

Texans like to elect their judges, even though they don't know the incumbents, 
the challengers or the courts they seek. Too often, judges are selected in the 
November elections simply because they run, now, as Republicans or, in the 
past, as Democrats. It is a poor way to select judges, but appointive systems 
have as many faults.

2 things would make the selection of judges better: doing away with 
straight-party voting in the general election and, well, voters who bother to 
be informed about the candidates for whom they vote. Neither is likely to 
happen anytime soon.

Let's take a brief look at the state judicial structure. At the local level, 
criminal and civil cases are tried in district courts or county courts-at-law. 
In Brazos County, our 3 district and 2 at-law courts are general jurisdiction, 
hearing both civil and criminal matters. In larger cities, district courts 
frequently specialize in criminal, civil or family matters.

With the exception of death-penalty verdicts, decisions at the local level may 
be appealed to 1 of the state's 14 intermediate courts of appeal. In Brazos 
County, cases that are appealed go to the 3 member 10th Court of Appeals in 
Waco. The courts of appeal have to accept every case appealed to them, criminal 
or civil.

>From those courts, cases may be appealed to 1 of the state's 2 supreme courts. 
The 9-member Supreme Court of Texas handles only civil and juvenile matters. 
The other top court, the 9-member Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, hears 
criminal cases appealed from the intermediate courts.

Both the Court of Criminal Appeals and the Supreme Court are discretionary 
courts, choosing which cases to accept - with 1 major exception. All 
death-penalty cases are automatically appealed from the district court level 
straight to the Court of Criminal Appeals.

At present, all nine Supreme Court justices, as they are called, and 8 of the 9 
Court of Criminal Appeals judges, as they are called, are Republicans. The lone 
Democrat on the court is Judge Lawrence Meyers, a fine jurist who has been 
elected to the top court several times as a Republican. Last year, though, he 
switched to the Democratic Party to run for a place on the Supreme Court. He 
lost and now is finishing his 6-year term on the Court of Criminal Appeals and 
is running for re-election as a Democrat.

No other Democrats are running for the top 2 courts.

Here is a look at the contested judicial races on the Republican Primary ballot 
in Brazos County:

Supreme Court of Texas

Place 3

Justice Debra Lehrmann vs. Justice Michael Massengale -- Lehrmann was judge of 
the 360th District Court when, in mid 2010, Gov. Rick Perry appointed her to 
fill out the remaining 6 months of Justice Harriet O'Neill's term when O'Neill 
stepped down. Lehrmann was elected to a full 6-year term in November 2010.

Lehrmann's background before taking the Tarrant County bench was primarily in 
family law.

Massengale clerked in Houston for a judge on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of 
Appeals for 2 years and then joined the prestigious firm of Baker, Botts, 
eventually becoming a partner. Perhaps his biggest case was representing the 
directors of Pennzoil in a suit filed by the company's shareholders. After a 
3-week trial, he won and the shareholders received nothing.

6 1/2 years ago, Gov. Perry named him to a vacancy on the 1st Court of Appeals, 
1 of 2 appellate courts located in Houston. He has been elected to that post 
twice since then.

Massengale is critical of Lehrmann, noting she had no appellate experience 
before being named to the Supreme Court, although, of course, she has gained 
plenty of such experience in the past 5 years on the court. He said she is the 
most frequent dissenter on the Supreme Court, often on the state's tort reform 
statute.

He said Lehrmann often is results-driven, deciding cases on the way she thinks 
the law should be rather than on the law as written.

Lehrmann did not meet with the Editorial Board. Massengale is a highly 
intelligent, engaging appellate justice. His criticism of Justice Lehrmann may 
be correct, but we expect our judges and justices to rule on the law as they 
understand it. Judges frequently can read the same case and apply the same 
facts and come up with differing opinions. That is why we have 9 justices on 
the Texas Supreme Court and 9 judges on the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Massengale would make a fine Supreme Court justice, but doesn't make the case 
he would be better than Justice Lehrmann.

The Eagle recommends a vote to re-elect Justice Debra Lehrmann to Place 3 on 
the Supreme Court of Texas.

Place 5

Judge Rick Green vs. Justice Paul Green -- Justice Paul Green was elected to 
the Supreme Court in 2004 and re-elected in 2010. Prior to that, he was a 
justice on the 4th Court of Appeals in San Antonio.

Rick Green is a former member of the Texas House of Representatives who was 
defeated after 2 terms. He has no judicial experience, losing to Justice 
Lehrmann in 2010.

Neither candidate met with The Editorial Board, but Paul Green's experience on 
the Supreme Court gives him a significant edge.

The Eagle recommends a vote for Justice Paul Green for re-election to the 
Supreme Court of Texas.

Place 9

Justice Eva Guzman vs. Joe Pool -- The daughter of immigrants, Guzman was 
appointed by Gov. Perry in 2009 when Justice Scott Brister resigned. She was 
elected to a full 6-year term in 2010. Prior to being appointed to the court, 
she was a justice on the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston and, before that was 
a family court judge. She is the 1st Hispanic woman to hold all 3 positions.

She was named Latina Judge of the Year by the Hispanic National Bar Association 
and 2009 Judge of the Year by the Mexican American Bar Association of Texas.

Pool says Guzman is not a true conservative who is out-of-step with the beliefs 
of the majority of Texas. He described himself as a "Christian Constitutional 
Conservative." On his website site, he pledges to rule "in accordance with the 
Constitution and his conscience."

He ran for the Supreme Court in 2012 in a 3-person race, coming in 3rd.

Guzman has been an outstanding jurist in Texas for a number of years and has 
served all Texans well. It is Pool who is out of touch with his fellow Texans.

The Eagle recommends a vote to keep Justice Eva Guzman on the Supreme Court of 
Texas.

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Place 2

Judge Mary Lou Keel vs. Judge Chris Oldner vs. Judge Ray Wheless -- Judge Keel 
has served as a Houston felony court judge for 21 years and has tried 20 
capital murder cases. Prior to that, she was an assistant Harris County 
district attorney, handling 279 criminal appeals, including 5 death-penalty 
cases. She has been board certified in criminal law since 1990.

Oldner has been board certified in criminal law for 14 years. He spent seven 
years as a prosecutor before serving as a Collin County court-at-law judge for 
3 1/2 years. Gov. Perry appointed him to the 416th District Court Bench in 
McKinney in 2003. He has run unopposed since then. He said he is the candidate 
in the race who has argued a death penalty case before a jury. He said he has 
never had a felony decision in his court reversed. "We do it right the 1st 
time."

He made the news last year when he presided over the grand jury that handed up 
an indictment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for securities fraud. Oldner 
recused himself from the case after the indictment was handed up, but Paxton's 
attorneys accused the judge of improprieties and said the indictment should be 
thrown out. A man not associated publicly with the case filed a judicial ethics 
complaint against Judge Oldner, and the matter is in the hands of the state's 
judicial ethics commission.

Oldner denies any wrongdoing, saying he has nothing to gain by Paxton's 
indictment. He said, "It's just another example of how dark-money special 
interest groups seek to bully and intimidate ethical, conservative judges who 
strictly follow the law."

Wheless is board certified in civil trial law and personal injury trial law, 
specializations that seemingly would make him more suited for the Supreme 
Court. He calls himself the conservative candidate in the race.

Wheless was named to a Collin County court-at-law bench in 2000 and, in 2009, 
was appointed to a district court bench by Gov. Perry. He has run unopposed 
since then.

Before being named to the bench, Wheless was active in a variety of Collin 
County Republican Party activities. He did not meet with the Editorial Board.

Oldner seemingly did nothing wrong in the Paxton indictment -- remember, it is 
Texas Attorney General Paxton who is under indictment, not the judge -- and he 
brings a wealth of experience to the race.

Keel, however, has experience that far surpasses Oldner's and that experience 
would serve Texans well on the Court of Criminal Appeals.

The Eagle recommends a vote for Judge Mary Lou Keel for election to Place 2 on 
the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in the Republican Primary.

The winner of that primary race will face the now-Democrat Judge Lawrence 
Meyers in the fall.

Place 5

Judge Sid Harle vs. Steve Smith vs. Scott Walker vs. Brent Webster -- The 4 are 
vying to replace Judge Cheryl Johnson, an outstanding jurist who is retiring 
after 18 years on the court.

Harle is running at the urging of Judge Johnson. He has been judge of San 
Antonio's 226th District Court for 27 years and has run unopposed for the past 
20 years. He is a former prosecutor and former defense attorney who appealed a 
death penalty case to the Court of Criminal Appeals. He said he has tried more 
capital cases than any other judge in Texas.

While running for the Court of Criminal Appeals, Harle said he has maintained 
his busy court schedule, using no visiting judges.

Harle was the judge who recommended that the state convene a court of inquiry 
that led to the exoneration of Michael Morton, who was wrongly convicted and 
served almost 25 years in prison for murdering his wife.

Smith is not our Judge Steve Smith, who serves on the 361st District Court 
bench. This Steve Smith is a former justice of the Texas Supreme Court who 
filled the final 2 years of now-Gov. Greg Abbott's term. He was defeated in his 
bid for election to a full term in 2004 after Gov. Perry opposed him. He ran 
again in 2006 and again lost in parts thanks to Perry's opposition.

He now says the 2 top courts should be merged, an idea that has been floated 
frequently but probably is not a workable idea as the Court of Criminal Appeals 
already is 1 of the busiest appeals courts in the nation.

Smith says Harle is too moderate.

Webster has never been elected to office before. He is a defense attorney in 
Williamson County. He points to his anti-abortion stance, which has little to 
do with the court he seeks. He also says he is strong on Second-Amendment 
rights.

The 4th candidate, Scott Walker, is a criminal defense attorney in Texas who 
has chosen not to campaign.

Only Harle met with the Editorial Board, but he is an impressive candidate with 
an impressive record.

The Eagle recommends a vote for Judge Sid Harle for election to Place 5 on the 
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Place 6

Judge Michael E. Keasler vs. Richard Davis -- We have been impressed with Judge 
Keasler every time we have interviewed him. He has been on the court for 17 
years, providing reasoned, steady jurisprudence.

Keasler is 73 and when he turns 75, state law says he can serve only 2 more 
years. Thus, he would have to retire 4 years into his 6-years term. The court 
has 3 new members, though, and Keasler said it is important that judges who 
have served longer remain to help the new judges settle in to their new roles.

"We provide institutional memory," Keasler said.

Davis is a Marble Falls attorney who did not meet with the Editorial Board. He 
is critical of Keasler's inability to serve a full 6-year term. Although he 
never has been a judge, Davis served as a prosecutor in Sherman and Ector 
counties.

Texas would be lucky to have Keasler serve even 4 more years. His experience is 
too valuable to reject.

The Eagle recommends a vote for Judge Michael E. Keasler for re-election to 
Place 6 on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

(source: Editorial Board, The Eagle)






NEW HAMPSHIRE:

House, Senate take different approaches on death penalty issue


The House and Senate are looking at 2 different approaches to the state's death 
penalty statute.

The Senate will vote on Senate Bill 463 when it returns from vacation the 1st 
week of March. The bill, sponsored by Republicans and Democrats, would suspend 
capital punishment "until methods exist to ensure that the death penalty cannot 
be imposed on an innocent person."

Phrased like that the moratorium would be in place for a long time.

The House took a different tack. Last week, it had a public hearing on House 
Bill 1552, which would expand the death penalty for anyone committing a 
terrorist act and for murdering someone exercising their civil rights under the 
state constitution.

"We should join the 9 other states that have a state law calling for capital 
punishment for terror-caused deaths," said the bill's prime sponsor, Rep. Jack 
Flanagan, R-Brookline. And he said, just like the federal government, the state 
should treat the murder of someone exercising their civil rights such as 
voting, going to court or acting as a juror as a capital crime.

New Hampshire last expanded the death penalty in 2011 after the murder of 
Kimberly Cates and the maiming of her daughter, Jamie, in a thrill killing 
during a home invasion in Mont Vernon.

A little more than 2 years later the push was on to repeal the death penalty 
after the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Michael Addison who 
murdered Manchester police officer Michael Briggs. The court reaffirmed its 
decision last year.

2 years ago, a bill repealing the death penalty passed the House but died in 
the Senate on a 12-12 vote.

This year, rather than trying to repeal the law, several lawmakers attempted to 
suspend it.

1 of the bill sponsors, Sen. Gary Daniels, R-Milford, voted against repealing 
the death penalty when he was in the House in 2014. The prime sponsor is Sen. 
Kevin Avard, R-Nashua.

The 2 Senate Democrats sponsoring the bill, Bette Lasky of Nashua and Molly 
Kelly of Keene, both have supported repeal.

During the public hearing earlier this year, the religious community, former 
prosecutors, police officers and the former Chief Justice of the New Hampshire 
Supreme Court John Broderick supported the moratorium.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 3-1 to recommend the bill pass the Senate, 
which it has a good chance to do.

(source: Garry Rayno, unionleader.com)






GEORGIA:

Parole hearing, execution provided insights to Houston County DA


Houston County District Attorney George Hartwig spoke against clemency for 
Houston County killer Travis Hittson and witnessed his execution Wednesday 
night.

Both experiences were firsts for Hartwig, who has been a prosecutor in Houston 
County for 15 years, including 5 as the district attorney. He's also seeking 
the death penalty in 2 pending cases, 1 of which will mark the 1st such case he 
will try.

Hartwig sat down with The Telegraph last week to talk about his experiences 
before the state Board of Pardons and Paroles and at the execution.

Hittson, 45, was executed by lethal injection at the Georgia Diagnostic and 
Classification Prison near Jackson for the murder and dismemberment of fellow 
sailor Conway Utterbeck in 1992. Co-defendant Ed Vollmer, Hittson's petty 
officer, is serving a life sentence and won't be eligible for parole 
consideration until 2024.

"I can tell you that I took no joy in it -- in going and watching that occur," 
Hartwig said of Hittson's execution. "It is not at all a situation where prison 
officials or prosecutors or the law enforcement folks sit around and revel in 
it or take any joy.

"There's no high-fiving going on, if you will. It's a very solemn and somber 
thing, as it should be. It's extremely serious. It is the ultimate carrying out 
of justice in our society. It is the ultimate punishment that somebody can 
receive."

Hartwig said he wanted to address the parole board to give voice to the victim.

"One of the points I made with the parole board was the fact that Edward 
Vollmer, the codefendant, didn't get a death sentence; the fact that he got 
life; (and) that should not inure to the benefit of Travis Hittson, who a jury 
did recommend death on and who a judge did impose a death sentence.

"And frankly, the facts of the case were that it was Travis Hittson that hit 
Mr. Utterbeck several times with an aluminum baseball bat in the head. It was 
Travis Hittson who pointed the gun at Mr. Utterbeck as he begged and pleaded 
for his life and frankly shot him in the forehead and executed him."

Hartwig also told the board that there was more than 1 execution to consider.

"The execution that I wanted them to think about for a few moments and to have 
in their minds as they made their decision was the execution of Mr. Utterbeck, 
and that execution was carried out without any appeal, without any clemency 
hearing, without any habeas corpus, without any rights whatsoever, without 
anybody being in his corner. ... And that execution was in fact carried out by 
Mr. Hittson."

In months before the execution, Hartwig said he had several telephone 
conversations with Utterbeck's mother, who wanted closure and addressed the 
parole board over a speaker phone during parole board hearing.

"Without her actually using the word death or kill or execute, I think it was 
pretty clear to the entire board and it certainly was to me that she wanted the 
sentence upheld, she wanted the sentence carried out ...," Hartwig said.

The board also pushed back Vollmer's next eligibility date to be considered for 
parole by 8 years, based information revealed behind closed doors during the 
clemency hearing. Vollmer, who was denied parole last year, would otherwise 
have been eligible for parole consideration in 2020.

"I don't think he should ever be released from prison," Hartwig said. "He 
should spend the rest of his life there."

Hittson's attorneys painted Vollmer as the real mastermind or instigator of the 
killing, but both Hittson and Vollmer deserved the death sentence, Hartwig 
said.

? "It would have been appropriate for both of them to get a death sentence in 
this case given the vicious, heinous, senseless nature of the crime."

Hartwig and Greg Winters, an assistant district attorney for Houston County, 
sat in the front row of the viewing room for the execution. Hittson's mother 
was somewhere behind them.

Hittson was lying on a gurney, his arms outstretched, with tubes in his arms 
that went through 2 holes in a back wall, where the lethal injection was 
administered out of view of witnesses. A sheet covered him up to his chest.

The viewing room was still. There was complete silence.

Hittson accepted a final prayer and recorded a final statement. The injection 
isn't visible to viewers. But Hittson's chest stopped moving, Hartwig said.

Hittson was declared dead and curtains on the side of the viewing glass in the 
execution room were closed. Those in the viewing room, about 20, filed out of 
the room solemnly.

"It was something I felt was important," Hartwig said. "If I as a prosecutor am 
going to make the decision and seek the death penalty on somebody, I want to 
know everything I can know about it.

"I want to know how the process works. I want to know how it's carried out. I 
want to be fully informed about that -- about what the results and the 
consequences are of the decisions I make."

PENDING HOUSTON CASES

Hartwig is seeking the death penalty against Homer Ridley III, who is accused 
of drowning his next-door neighbor in a bathtub more than 20 years ago.

Ridley is serving a life sentence for an unrelated 1988 rape in Warner Robins. 
In May, a Houston County grand jury indicted Ridley, 46, on 1 count of malice 
murder and 2 counts of felony murder in the slaying of 20-year-old Summer 
Gleaton in her Terry Street home in Warner Robins in 1994.

Hartwig also is seeking the death penalty for Michael Montreal Gooden, 23, the 
accused shooter in the killing of Monnie Joseph Brabham IV, 32, of Macon, as he 
pumped gas at a Booth Road station in Warner Robins in early 2014.

Gooden was indicted on charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated 
assault, armed robbery and violation of the street gang terrorism and 
prevention act, along with other alleged members of an Atlanta gang. Brabham 
was not part of a gang, police said.

Hartwig declined comment on the pending cases. But he said the decision that 
resulted in a Warner Robins man coming off death row after more than 37 years 
was appropriate.

Houston County Chief Judge George F. Nunn resentenced Roger Collins to life on 
Aug. 26 after an evaluation found that Collins met the diagnostic criteria for 
mental retardation. Although the U.S. Supreme Court banned the execution of 
mentally retarded people in 2002, how determinations of mental capacity are 
made were left up to each state. Collins' case languished for years.

Collins was 18 in 1977 when he was convicted and sentenced to death for 
bludgeoning 17-year-old Deloris Luster with a car bumper jack after he and 
another man raped her at knifepoint. Codefendant William Durham, who was dating 
Collins' mother at the time, was sentenced to life for the 1977 crime. A 3rd 
man, Johnny Styles, who waited in a car after the rape while Luster was killed, 
was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony.

(source: macon.com)






MISSISSIPPI:

Couple charged with capital murder in Miss. man's death


2 suspects are being held on a $1 million bond, after being charged with 
capital murder in the February 18 death of a Bruce, Miss. businessman.

In a news release, Warren Strain, spokesman for the Mississippi Bureau of 
Investigation, says JaShon Coleman, 21, of Derma and 19-year-old Breanna 
Westmoreland of Banner were arrested following a joint investigation by the 
agency and the Calhoun County Sheriff's Department.

The victim has been identified as James Pratt. WTVA reported that Pratt was the 
owner of Bruce Bait Shop.

The news release did not name the circumstances of the alleged crime which 
officials say happened near 2:00 a.m. at a gasoline station on Highway 32.

Multiple media outlets have reported that Coleman and Westmoreland are a 
couple. The Daily Journal reports that Coleman was a former co-worker of 
Pratt's at the Haworth seating plant in Bruce. The Calhoun County Sheriff told 
the paper that Pratt was inside a vehicle with Coleman, when the latter 
demanded money.

"Coleman then got out and got into the car driven by his girlfriend, 
Westmoreland," Greg Pollen said.

Both are in custody at the Calhoun County Jail. If convicted, they could face 
the death penalty.

(source: Clarion-Ledger)






OHIO:

Huggins-Jones jurors to continue death penalty deliberations


Jurors spent the past week hearing arguments over whether to impose the death 
penalty on the man accused in the murder of a former Cleveland resident.

However, the 6-man, 6-woman set of jurors spent the afternoon Friday in 
deliberations on the possible death penalty for Travion Devonte Smith of North 
Carolina. They made no decision then, so the jury will return this week for 
more discussion among themselves.

Smith is 1 of 3 defendants in the homicide of Melissa Huggins-Jones, who had 
just moved to the Raleigh area, and he was found guilty of 1st-degree murder 
last week.

1 other defendant - Ronald Lee Anthony - pleaded guilty in the 2013 death of 
Huggins-Jones to avoid the death penalty. He was sentenced to life in prison 
without parole.

A 3rd defendant, Sara Redden, awaits trial. She did testify for the prosecution 
in the Smith proceedings.

The defense presented witnesses this past week who spoke of Smith's troubled 
childhood. Smith has not taken the stand in the case.

Prosecutors brought up witnesses to Smith's defiance to questioning by law 
enforcement. The state also presented Huggins-Jones daughter, who was 
8-years-old at the time she found her mother dead in their apartment. Her 
testimony was not allowed to be shown on streaming video as others have been.

Huggins-Jones' daughter found her mom lying on her bed in a pool of blood, and 
ran down the street to where construction crews were located.

One of those workers returned to the apartment to find the victim, who court 
records said died from at least 18 blows to the head, neck and torso with some 
apparently made using a sharp instrument.

The young girl was living with her mother following Huggins-Jones' divorce. A 
second child remained in Cleveland with his father to complete school.

According to Wake County (N.C.) Superior Court proceedings, Redden said that 
she was outside the apartment serving as a lookout while Smith and Anthony were 
inside. Even so, she has also been charged with 1st-degree murder. The Wake 
County District Attorney's office said that there was no deal between the state 
and Redden for her testimony.

Smith was incarcerated in Wake County in 2015 on a parole violation, according 
to his probation and parole officer Mark Schellhorn. It was reported that he 
was charged in the Huggins-Jones murder while in jail on that violation.

The defense was the 1st to present its case in the sentencing hearing that 
began on Wednesday. The state followed, and ended its evidence presentation 
early Friday afternoon.

The jury will resume deliberations in the sentencing phase on Monday around 
9:30 a.m. in Superior Court. Smith faces either the death penalty or life in 
prison without parole.

(source: Cleveland Daily Banner)