[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., GA., FLA., OHIO

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 24



TEXAS:

Pope tells Austin bishop not to 'give up fight' against death penalty


During his trip to the U.S.-Mexico border last week, Pope Francis told Austin 
bishops to "not lose heart or give up the fight" against the death penalty, 
auxiliary Bishop Daniel Garcia said Tuesday.

Garcia was one of several people with the diocese who traveled to the border 
city of Ju1rez to see the pope on Feb. 17 at the end of his 6-day tour through 
Mexico. The diocese's delegation shared details of its trip in a press 
conference Tuesday.

On Sunday, Francis issued a call to all world leaders to put up a moratorium on 
the death penalty until November. Garcia said the pope brought up the issue 
with him last week when he told Francis he lived in Texas.

"His comment to me was very direct," Garcia said. "He said, 'Do not lose heart 
or give up the fight in fighting against the death penalty. Do not lose heart, 
do not lose hope. I know it's difficult, it's an uphill challenge, but we have 
to continue to bring people hope.'"

"He was very much encouraging. He wasn't angry when he said it, he wasn't 
trying to create turmoil," Garcia added. "He was just saying that as pastors, 
as shepherds, we have to be the voice of the people - oftentimes for the voices 
that are not heard."

Garcia said he didn't say much to the pope.

"I just basically listened," he said, laughing.

Pope Francis visited a prison in Juarez and spent time with the inmates while 
he was there.

Another person affiliated with the Diocese of Austin - Gerardo Ramos, the 
director of music at St. William Church in Round Rock, who grew up in Juarez - 
traveled to border for the papal visit as well. He sang in the choir during the 
Mass that Francis celebrated and had the chance to perform a solo.

Performing during the Mass was "a moment of peace," Ramos said.

"When I started singing, it was this moment of joy," he said. "It's something 
that's very indescribable."

Jorge Nunez, case manager for the Austin Diocese's Office of Canonical Tribunal 
Services, also traveled to Ju???rez to see the pope and said he was touched to 
hear Francis address the city's history of drug violence during Mass.

"It really hit home for me because I have family in Mexico who were severely 
affected by the violence there," Nunez said.

(source: Austin American-Statesman)






NORTH CAROLINA:

NC Shift from Death Penalty? Life Sentence in Wake County Murder


He was convicted of murdering a Raleigh mother of 2 in her apartment, but 
Travion Smith will not face the death penalty. A Wake County jury on Monday 
instead opted for the convicted killer to spend life in prison without the 
possibility of parole.

It marks the 6th time in a row that the Wake County prosecutor's office pursued 
the death penalty in a capital murder case, only to have the jury return a life 
sentence, prompting the district attorney to speak publicly on the future of 
the death penalty in North Carolina, said Gretchen Engel, executive director of 
the Center for Death Penalty Litigation.

"She spoke of the need to maybe reconsider and take another look at what are we 
doing? What's the best allocation of resources? How do we keep the public safe 
and discharge our obligation to punish crimes? And maybe the death penalty is 
not part of that mix," Engel said.

Currently, 152 offenders are on North Carolina's death row, but there hasn't 
been an execution in the state since 2006. No new death sentences were handed 
down last year in the Tar Heel State.

In addition to a demonstrated statewide shift away from the use of the death 
penalty, Pope Francis said on Tuesday that the death penalty is "against God's 
plan" and called for an end to the punishment worldwide.

Supporters of the death penalty have said it is needed for the harshest of 
crimes. Engel said it's also important to note that a life-in-prison sentence 
represents a harsh punishment for Smith.

"There are very strict rules in prison and none of us would trade our liberty 
for that punishment," she said. "This is not a holiday camp, this is a very 
serious punishment. As is appropriate, what happened to Melissa Huggins Jones 
is horrifying."

Engel said the Smith case is another indication that the public is telling law 
enforcement and the courts that life in prison without parole is sufficiently 
harsh, and justice and public safety don't require the death penalty.

(source: publicnewsservice.org)






GEORGIA:

Co-defendant faces death penalty for 2007 College Park teen stabbings


A 2nd man will face the death penalty if convicted for his role in the 2007 
stabbing deaths of 2 College Park teenagers, officials said.

2 cousins, 13-year-old Chrisondra Sierra Kimble and 15-year-old Delarlonva 
"Del" Mattox Jr., were brutally stabbed to death after walking to a 
neighborhood store to buy snacks, Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. 
Howard, Jr. said.

Family members reported the teens missing April 5, 2007, after the pair never 
returned home.

After searching, Kimble's mother found the teens' naked bodies the next day in 
a wooded area behind Bethune Elementary School in Fulton County, Howard said.

Investigators later arrested Jermy Moody and William Felts in connection with 
the murders.

A jury for Felts was selected Feb. 8, Howard said.

He is charged with 2 counts of murder, 2 counts of felony murder, 2 counts of 
aggravated assault with intent to rob, 2 counts of kidnapping with bodily 
injury and 1 count of rape.

If convicted, the state has announced its intent to request the death penalty, 
Howard said.

Co-defendent Jeremy Moody in 2013 pleaded guilty to multiple counts of murder, 
aggravated assault, kidnapping with injury and aggravated assault with the 
intent to rob and rape in connection with the slayings.

6 charges - 2 each for murder, felony murder and kidnapping - carry maximum 
penalties of death by lethal injection and the jury for Moody found for death 
in each of the murder charges.

(source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution)






FLORIDA:

Victim's mother urges State Attorney Angela Corey to take death penalty off the 
table


There's a new push from the public defender's office to take the death penalty 
off the table in the case of James Xavier Rhodes, 24. It's an idea the victim's 
mother, Darlene Farah, supports as well.

"I feel like the public defender's office is more compassionate about the 
situation than the state attorney's office. I feel like they care more about 
what we're going through," Farah said.

A judge is scheduled to take up several death penalty issues related to the 
case at a hearing Wednesday afternoon.

Last week, public defender Matt Shirk sent a letter to State Attorney Angel 
Corey asking her office to reconsider seeking the death penalty for Rhodes.

For the past 18 months, Shirk says Rhodes has been willing to plead guilty to 
all charges related to Shelby's death. In return, he'd get 2 consecutive life 
sentences without parole for first degree murder and armed robbery, plus an 
additional 20 years in prison for aggravated assault and possession of a 
firearm by a convicted felon.

"The state is not helping. I'm trying to get the family back together, trying 
to get control of my life back. I feel like they have control of my life," 
Farah said.

Shirk said Rhodes would also waive his right to appeal his case in the future.

Police say Rhodes shot and killed Shelby Farah, 20, during a robbery at the 
Metro PSC store on North Main Street where she worked in 2013. Police say 
Rhodes shot the victim after she handed him the cash he asked for.

Shirk lists several reasons why the SAO should consider the deal, including the 
fact that this is what Darlene Farah, Shelby's mother, wants out of the case. 
Her death has been hard on the entire Farah family, including her younger 
sister who is getting ready to graduate from high school.

"She just mentioned to me the other day she wished Shelby was here to help her 
pick out her prom dress," Farah said.

Farah says she wants some measure of closure. She's worried about decades worth 
of litigation if prosecutors are able to secure a death penalty recommendation. 
Shirk writes, "I believe that with every motion, petition or appeal filed on 
Mr. Rhodes' behalf, she will relive the pain and loss she has felt since losing 
Shelby."

Shirk also points out the uncertainty surrounding Florida's death penalty. The 
legislature is currently rewriting the death penalty law after the U.S. Supreme 
Court recently ruled that the current method is unconstitutional. Shirk writes, 
"Assuming the legislature is able to pass legislation prior to Mr. Rhodes' 
trial, Mr. Rhodes' case will be one of the 1st death penalty trials in Florida 
under new sentencing procedures. As such, if your office secures a death 
verdict, there will be years of litigation centering around whether Florida's 
new sentencing scheme passes constitutional muster."

Farah believes the money it would take to send Rhodes to death row could be 
better used elsewhere. According to the Florida Department of Corrections, it 
takes $18,000 a year to house an inmate in a Florida prison. By the times 
Rhodes is 75-years-old, it would cost the state roughly $900,000 to keep him 
alive.

According to a 2014 investigation by the Florida-Times Union, it would cost 
much more to send him to death row, which costs about $3 million per person.

Shirk isn't against the death penalty, but says he doesn't believe this case 
fits the bill.

"Personally, I believe the death penalty is a useful tool. We just don't 
administer it properly in this country. We've had 26 people just here in the 
state of Florida that have been exonerated from death row as innocent," Shirk 
said.

The state attorney's office has aggressively prosecuted death penalty cases 
since Angela Corey was sworn into office in January 2009.

Corey represents the Fourth Judicial Circuit covering Duval, Clay and Nassau 
Counties. Records show her office has sent more people to death row than 
another other prosecutor in the state since the start of 2009.

First Coast News requested an interview with Corey to explain her stance. A 
spokesperson sent us the following statement:

"The State is still seeking the death penalty in this case. The State is in the 
process of filing a formal response regarding the death penalty motions filed 
by the Defendant. Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda will address the 
various motions in the appropriate venue, the courtroom. The hearing is set for 
Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. Due to this being a pending matter, it would be 
inappropriate to comment further."

Rhodes is scheduled to go to trial in May.

(source: First Coast News)

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

Reviving the death penalty ---- Florida needs to keep the death penalty, so the 
Legislature is wisely working on a fix in response to a U.S. Supreme Court 
ruling that called the state???s system unconstitutional.


The Florida Senate should go along with a reasonable House measure that would 
revive the state's death penalty.

Just prior to the opening of the Legislature in January, the U.S. Supreme Court 
threw the state's capital punishment system into jeopardy by faulting Florida 
for relying too much on judges in deciding death sentences. As Justice Sonia 
Sotomayor wrote, "The Sixth Amendment requires a jury, not a judge, to find 
each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death."

Although the high court did not mention it, other legal experts criticized the 
state for not requiring a unanimous vote for death sentences.

The state also does not require jurors to detail what aggravating factors they 
found to justify a recommendation of death. Legislation adopted by the state 
House last week won't satisfy death penalty critics who wanted a comprehensive 
overhaul, but it does seem to address the concerns the court expressed in its 
Hurst v. Florida decision.

It requires juries to unanimously agree on at least 1 aggravating factor before 
the death penalty can be imposed. This should eliminate any doubt about the 
jury's rationale.

It also requires at least 10 of 12 jurors to agree on a death penalty sentence. 
The guilty verdict itself still must be unanimous.

Florida has been 1 of only 2 states that requires a simple majority jury vote 
for a death penalty recommendation, which a judge can impose or reject under 
current law.

The Florida Supreme Court has urged lawmakers in the past to consider unanimity 
for death recommendations. Some critics won't be pleased with only a 10-2 
requirement, which Alabama also uses. But Attorney General Pam Bondi reminds us 
the death penalty vote for serial killer Ted Bundy - a monstrous example of why 
the death penalty is necessary - was only 10-2. The death penalty vote for 
Aileen Wuornos, another serial killer, was 10-2.

Death penalty votes for other vicious murderers, including Oscar Ray Bolin, 
have not been unanimous. The 10-2 provision ensures the penalty reflects the 
overwhelming sentiment of the jury, but guards against a lone holdout 
subverting its decision.

The death penalty is a tough issue, and we respect those who oppose it. But we 
believe there are vicious individuals whose crimes are so vile that no other 
penalty is sufficient. Members of the Senate should see, as House Speaker Steve 
Crisafulli says, the House legislation goes beyond what the U.S. Supreme Court 
said was needed, and the "reforms will allow us to keep the death penalty in 
our toolbox to punish our most violent criminals."

We believe most citizens would agree, even if reluctantly, that Florida needs 
to keep the death penalty in its criminal justice toolbox.

(source: Editorial, tbo.com)

*********

No death penalty overturn for man who killed Melbourne couple


A death row prisoner who stabbed and beat a Melbourne couple to death failed to 
get his death penalty overturned, despite lawyers trying to use a recent 
Supreme Court decision to throw out the sentence.

Kyoko Johnson was killed on her 66th birthday, beaten and stabbed to death 
along with her husband Rufus after refusing to give $5,000 to a former 
neighbor's kid. That neighbor was Anthony Welch, 22, at the time. Now at age 
37, he's still trying to escape the death sentence.

"If we're going to continue this case, it's just to give the state a chance to 
kill one of its citizens," said defense attorney Mike Pirolo. "That is 
fundamentally wrong; it's unjust; immoral."

Welch is eligible for a new sentence because of a procedural error in the 
original case. Defense attorneys told Judge Charles Crawford today a Supreme 
Court ruling that says the state's death penalty is not applied properly makes 
it unconstitutional. That means, they say, that Welch's sentence must be 
changed from death to life.

The judge didn't buy it.

"The death penalty has not been ruled unconstitutional," said judge Charles 
Crawford.

Instead, he ruled, the Legislature merely needs to change the way in which 
juries recommend death or life to a deciding judge.

So Welch will come back for a new sentencing afterward. And prosecutors plan to 
let no one forget that Welch singled out the victims because they had been kind 
to him in the past, then stole their TV and went out on a date after the 
slaughter.

"The death penalty is the appropriate sentence and that's why we're continuing 
to seek it. He deserved it," said prosecutor Tom Brown. "He absolutely deserved 
it."

Welch could be back in the courtroom as early as April for what could be 
another death sentence, once the legislature revises the law.

Prosecutors said Welch used the victims' telephone after their murders, to call 
his girlfriend and arrange where the 2 would go.

(source: WESH news)






OHIO:

Ohio's former prisons chief: 'The death penalty isn't worth fixing'


Terry J. Collins was director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and 
Correction from 2006 to 2010 and worked in the prison system for nearly 33 
years. He is currently a member of Ohioans to Stop Executions.

It's been 6 years since I retired after more than 3 decades at the Ohio 
Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. I held various positions including 
warden, regional director, assistant director and then director. Included in my 
responsibilities was the participation in the execution of 33 men from 2001 to 
2010.

With each execution I asked myself: Did the extensive process of appeals ensure 
we got it right? I often wondered if we made a mistake. My curiosity arose 
because I had walked people out of prison after years of incarceration who 
turned out to be innocent.

Our judicial and corrections system is among the finest in the world and the 
envy of nations. We provide the best attorneys, judges, and corrections 
personnel anywhere. I know, and have worked closely with many of them. Yet we 
continue to be one of the few industrialized nations to carry out the death 
penalty even when we know mistakes happen.

Innocent People on death row

Every year, more innocent prisoners walk off death rows in the U.S. -- 156 
since 1972. These troubling trends tell us this is no anomaly. Ohio has 
executed 53 and exonerated nine men. I think about these statistics and am 
troubled by Ohio's track record. Why? Because I'll always remember Gary Beeman, 
Ohio's 1st death row exoneree, who walked out of prison to a new trial and 
freedom. Turns out Gary didn't commit the crime that sent him to death row.

My concerns are not limited to the possibility of killing an innocent person. 
The death penalty is expensive, inefficient and takes far too long. I believe 
it only prolongs the pain and healing process for victims' families.

As one who values fairness and equality as the bedrock of our legal system, I 
do not accept the argument that we only execute the worst of the worst. The 
offenders in our prisons I encountered who committed unimaginable crimes were 
usually not on death row. The vast majority of those on death row were 
convicted under Ohio's felony murder rule, for killing someone in process of 
another crime such as robbery or kidnapping.

Failed Public Policy

A recently released study examined Ohio's 53 executions. This study found that 
the race of the victim and the county where the crime took place matter more 
than the severity of the crime. I think these disparities are important points 
of discussion regarding the use of the death penalty in Ohio.

I am not alone among corrections professionals who consider the death penalty a 
failed public policy. My predecessor, former ODRC Director Dr. Reginald 
Wilkinson, also opposes executions. We've joined with other former corrections 
officials across our great nation asking legislators to end the death penalty. 
After being quoted in my local paper in Chillicothe about my concerns with 
capital punishment, I received calls from former colleagues thanking me for 
saying out loud what they could not.

My concerns about the death penalty led me to join Public Safety Officials on 
the Death Penalty. Public Safety Officials on the Death Penalty is an 
independent group of law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and corrections 
officials. We're ready to discuss concerns we share about the death penalty in 
this country so that policymakers may explore alternatives. Some of us oppose 
the death penalty while others support it under certain circumstances. We all 
recognize problems with the current death penalty, particularly that it diverts 
needed resources from policing and community safety.

A Better Alternative

I am pleased to stand with former Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro, another 
member of Public Safety Officials on the Death Penalty. He helped write Ohio's 
death penalty law as a legislator and saw 18 executions as Ohio's chief 
prosecutor. Jim and I join a majority of Ohioans who believe the current 
sentencing alternative of life without parole keeps Ohio communities safe. The 
sentence of life without parole is effectively severe and holds offenders 
accountable. Over 540 inmates are currently in custody of the Department of 
Correction with sentences of life without parole.

It is time for state officials to have serious and thoughtful conversations 
about whether Ohio's death penalty remains necessary. A recent task force 
appointed by the Ohio Supreme Court made 56 recommendations to fix problems 
with the fairness and accuracy of Ohio's system.

My experience tells me the death penalty isn't worth fixing. Our justice system 
will be more fair and effective without the death penalty.

(source: WCPO news)

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

Man accused in slayings says no serial-killer comparison


A judge has granted a motion by defense attorneys that prevents prosecutors 
from comparing an Ohio man who faces a capital murder trial for killing three 
women with notorious Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell.

Michael Madison's trial is scheduled to begin April 4 in Cuyahoga County Common 
Pleas Court. Defense attorney David Grant said last week that he made the 
request, which a judge granted last week, anticipating that prosecutors might 
make the comparison, which he called "irrelevant and prejudicial."

"We don't want that language used in front of a jury," Grant said.

A spokesman for the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office did not respond to a 
request for comment about the judge's ruling.

Sowell was sentenced to death in August 2011 for killing 11 women in a case 
that captured the world's attention. An appeal of his conviction is pending.

Madison, 38, faces the death penalty if convicted. He was arrested and charged 
with aggravated murder in July 2013 after the bodies of three women were found 
wrapped in garbage bags in East Cleveland. Madison also is charged with 
aggravated rape, kidnapping and abuse of a corpse.

Madison's defense team is awaiting a ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court about 
whether prosecutors can use information gleaned from a recent psychiatric 
evaluation of Madison at trial. The court in December denied defense attorneys' 
efforts to stop the evaluation that prosecutors sought.

The Cuyahoga County medical examiner concluded that 2 of the women Madison is 
accused of killing - Shirellda Terry, 18, and Angela Deskins, 38 - were 
strangled and Shetisha Sheeley, 28, died of "homicidal violence by unspecified 
means."

Madison was classified a sex offender in 2002 after being sentenced to 4 years 
in prison for attempted rape.

(source: Associated Press)