[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KY., NEB., ARIZ., NEV., CALIF., USA

[Rick Halperin]

July 13




KENTUCKY:

Timothy Madden in court Wednesday


Timothy Madden is scheduled to be in Allen Circuit Court Wednesday afternoon 
for his latest pretrial conference at 1:30.

Madden is charged with murder, rape, sodomy, and kidnapping in the death of 
7-year-old Gabbi Doolin.

Gabbi was killed on November 14, 2015 at a youth football game on the campus of 
Allen County-Scottsville High School after being reported missing for only 30 
minutes. Doolin was found in a creek near the football field by police.

Madden was arrested a week later after police confirmed DNA at the crime scene.

Wednesday is the last day for the defense to receive discovery in the case.

If convicted, Madden could face the death penalty.

(source: WBKO news)






NEBRASKA:

Touring anti-death penalty speakers include relatives of murder victims, 
death-row exonerees


Relatives of murder victims, death-row exonerees, and family members of the 
executed will speak at a series of public meetings about why they oppose the 
death penalty.

The meetings will be held in Omaha, Lincoln and across Nebraska.

Journey of Hope will start its speaking tour at 10 a.m. Sunday at St. Benedict 
Catholic Church in Omaha. It will make 6 additional appearances in Omaha along 
with about 20 more in Lincoln, Grand Island, North Platte, Norfolk, Columbus, 
Scottsbluff and other communities.

Some locations also will feature film screenings.

Nebraskans For Alternatives to the Death Penalty invited the group as part of a 
public eduction campaign in the group's effort to keep capital punishment off 
of the books.

State lawmakers repealed the death penalty in 2015, making Nebraska the 1st 
conservative state to end capital punishment since North Dakota in 1973. Death 
penalty supporters have since collected enough signatures to allow voters to 
decide in November if the repeal should be overturned.

Among the 10 speakers on the tour:

--Derrick Jamison, who was removed from Ohio's death row in 2005 after the 
courts ruled he was convicted through false testimony and official misconduct.

--Marietta Jaeger-Lane of Three Folks, Montana, whose 7-year-old daughter Susie 
was kidnapped and murdered by a serial killer in 1973. When the killer later 
called to taunt the mother, Jaeger-Lane disarmed him by saying she was praying 
for his healing. The phone call led to his arrest and conviction, and 
Jaeger-Lane has remained an advocate for forgiveness.

--George White, who, along with his wife, was repeatedly shot during a 1985 
robbery in Coffee County, Alabama. Despite White's wounds, authorities said he 
staged the robbery. White was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 
1987. The conviction was set aside in 1989 after an appellate court found 
serious errors by the trial judge. But charges were not dismissed until 1992, 
when White's attorney discovered a witness who had seen a man fleeing the 
business where the robbery occurred.

For a full list of speakers, times and locations, go to nadp.net.

(source: Omaha World-Herald)





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

Anti-death penalty group airing ad across Nebraska


The effort to keep the death penalty out of Nebraska will include a former U.S. 
Marine.

Kirk Bloodsworth is featured in a new ad paid for by Retain a Just Nebraska.

Ryan Horn, media strategist, says Bloodsworth was wrongfully convicted of rape 
and murder, and sentenced to death.

"Law enforcement, our criminal justice system are made up of thousands of 
wonderful people who work very hard and do their very best, and sometimes they 
make mistakes," Horn tells Nebraska Radio Network. "And if you're going to make 
a mistake, the state cannot kill someone because of a mistake. We can't let 
that happen."

Bloodsworth was eventually freed after DNA testing cleared him of the crime.

The ads are running on television and radio across Nebraska before a vote this 
fall on whether to bring back the death penalty or keep it repealed.

Horn says if it can happen to someone like Bloodsworth, it can happen to 
anyone.

"This guy was an honorably discharged Marine. He'd never been in trouble with 
the law before. He had a good job. This wasn't some gangbanger who had 
committed crimes before and maybe just got caught in the wrong one - not at 
all," Horn says. "This happens to people. It can happen to people."

Horn says other ads will run between now and the November election.

(source: nebraskaradionetwork.com)






ARIZONA:

Pinal mulls death penalty ---- 1 of 3 women charged in abuse and death of 
3-year-old


The cases of 3 Pinal County women arrested in connection with the abuse and 
death of a 3-year-old have been delayed as the Pinal County Attorney's Office 
weighs whether to seek the death penalty for 1 of the defendants.

Shawn Main, a 45-year old caretaker to the toddler, was arrested for the murder 
of Tiana Rosalee Capps on Christmas Eve along with Capps' biological mother, 
27-year-old Tina Morse, and 46-year-old Maria Tiglao; Morse and Tiglao face 
charges of child abuse committed against 4 of Morse's biological children, 
including Tiana and three boys ages 5, 4 and 5 months at the time of the 
arrests.

The 3 defendants, all residents of unincorporated Maricopa, appeared in court 
separately on Monday, but each case was set to return to Judge Kevin White's 
court on Aug. 8 as the state has not yet decided whether to seek the death 
penalty for Main. According to PCAO spokeswoman Tiffany Davila, the state has 
until July 29 to make its decision.

Defense attorneys for Morse and Tiglao expressed concern over the state's 
pending decision delaying any chance for resolution for their clients before 
trial. Tiglao is no longer being held at the Pinal County Adult Detention 
Center, but Morse continues to be held on a $7,500-bond, which her attorney 
said she could not meet.

In an email to the Casa Grande Dispatch, Davila said the 3 defendants have to 
be tried together because they were charged together. Main, Morse and Tiglao 
are presumed innocent unless proven guilty, she added.

As previously reported by the Dispatch, Main had been caring for Tiana and the 
eldest of Morse's 2 sons while Tiglao was responsibly for the infant, according 
to Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu.

"Tina Morse admitted to providing no care for the children," Babeu said in 
December. "Shawn admitted that Tiana was under her care at the time of her 
fatal injuries. Although Shawn claimed the child's injuries were 
self-inflicted, the medical examiner's report did not support the claims."

Main had been transporting Tiana to the hospital on Nov. 19 when she made a 911 
call to report the child was in medical distress; paramedics intercepted Main 
while she was driving and drove Tiana to a local emergency room, where she 
died. Doctors noted unexplained injuries to Tiana's head and body, and the Pima 
County medical examiner later ruled Tiana's death was a result of repeated 
instances of blunt force trauma.

PCSO deputies discovered filthy conditions at Morse's residence on Ralston Road 
during the initial investigation, and the boys were found to be malnourished; 
the 5-year-old also had head injuries.

The surviving children were placed in the custody of the state Department of 
Child Safety.

(source: trivalleycentral.com)






NEVADA:

Defense reveals why team decided against putting James Biela on the stand


Day 2 of a evidentiary hearing that will determine if the man convicted of 
raping and killing Brianna Denison back in 2008 revealed some riveting 
information.

Lawyers for Biela asked the public defender at the of the trial why Beila was 
never put on the stand to testify in his own defense during the initial trial 
in 2010. At first the attorney was hesitant to answer saying he didn't feel 
comfortable talking in front of the client. But after getting the go-ahead from 
Judge Freeman, he answered the defense team felt Biela did not possess the 
ability to show empathy for the victim. He said, "As a result we did not feel 
he would have been a sympathetic character or one in which the jury could 
identify with."

Biela's lawyers are arguing Biela had ineffective counsel in his initial trial 
and should be entitled to a new trial. Biela was found guilty in the 
kidnapping, rape and murder of Denison. He received the death penalty. His 
conviction and death sentence have been upheld by the Nevada Supreme Court.

For the past 2 days, Biela's lawyers have been hammering on points they believe 
were trial errors or mistakes that violated Biela's constitutional rights. 
Among their issues are that police made a mistake in citing Miranda Rights to 
Biela. They claim officers wrongfully expanded in explaining those rights 
telling Biela he could refuse to answer any question and that refusal would be 
honored. Biela's lawyers state no such right exists and the State used Biela's 
refusals to answer questions against him in the trial.

They are also questioning why a change of venue was not granted, given the 
pre-trial publicity. They are also trying to poke holes in the DNA evidence 
presented and are questioning the State's handling of a defense forensic 
expert. Lawyers argue the State withheld knowledge it had conducted certain 
forensic tests and used this to diminish the credibility of the defense expert. 
In the 1st day of the hearing, the defense team leader, Maizie Pusich, who is 
also a Chief Deputy in the Public Defender's Office, testified she raised 
concerns the State's actions were misleading and dishonest.

Lawyers are also questioning the impartiality of 3 jurors specifically. They 
claim the three stated they would not be able to consider any options besides 
the death penalty if Biela was found guilty.

Security has been tight in the courtroom as Biela has been present and sitting 
at the defense table during the proceedings. He is dressed in prison clothes 
with chains around his legs. He showed little to no emotion over the past 2 
days.

(source: NBC news)






CALIFORNIA:

Jailed con pleads 'not guilty' to bashing murders of La Verne husband, 89, wife 
74


A jailed convict already behind bars for another crime pleaded not guilty 
Tuesday to the possible death-penalty bludgeoning murders of an 89-year-old man 
and his 74- year-old wife at their multimillion-dollar home near La Verne the 
day after Christmas in 2014.

Luke Matthew Fabela - who authorities said last year was linked to the killings 
through DNA while he was serving a jail term in San Bernardino for auto theft - 
was charged in February with 2 counts of murder and 1 count each of 2nd-degree 
robbery and 1st-degree residential burglary in the deaths of Armie "Troy" Isom 
and his wife, Shirley.

The murder charges against Fabela, 24, include the special circumstance 
allegation of multiple murders during the commission of a robbery - the only 
item taken was Shirley Isom's cell phone, according to the prosecution.

Prosecutors have yet to decide whether to pursue the death penalty.

The victims were found by a groundskeeper at their multimillion-dollar home 
abutting open land in an unincorporated area near La Verne. Both died of blunt 
force trauma and Shirley Isom sustained "sharp force trauma," according to 
Deputy District Attorney Tannaz Mokayef.

While Fabela was jailed in San Bernardino for an auto theft case, Los Angeles 
County sheriff's officials announced last May that he had been linked by DNA to 
the killings and that he would serve his term in San Bernardino before being 
sent to Los Angeles County.

He is due back in court Oct. 18 in Pomona. He remains jailed without bail.

(source: mynewsla.com)

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

No Death Penalty for California Murderer


A man who shot a liquor store worker to death 17 years ago should not be put to 
death, as prosecutors wrongly excused a juror, the California Supreme Court 
ruled Monday.

After David Gaines, 36, and his father, William Gaines, 87, closed their 
Stockton liquor store at 11 p.m. on June 11, 1999, they drove home in separate 
cars.

As soon as the father shut his car door, a man punched him in the chin and 
shoulder, grabbed the brown paper lunch sack from his hand, and took off 
running.

The son rushed outside with a can of Mace and said, "Hey!"

The assailant, later identified as David Zaragoza, was already 10 to 30 feet 
down the street, with his back to William.

Hearing gunshots, William ducked behind his car.

He then found his son on the driveway in a pool of blood.

Zaragoza and another man were 50 to 100 feet away, running down the street.

2 years later, in 2001, a San Joaquin County jury found Zaragoza's brother, 
Louis Rangel Zaragoza, guilty of the 1st-degree murder of David Gaines and of 
robbing his father.

The jury sentenced him to death, which Zaragoza automatically appealed.

The California Supreme Court reversed the death judgment Monday, and only the 
sentence of death.

The ruling focuses on Prospective Juror No. 129, who told prosecutors she had 
religious convictions that would interfere with her ability to sit as a juror 
in a capital case.

"Don't feel I have the right to decide if a person is to die," the juror wrote.

A prosecutor challenged the juror for cause, based on her religious beliefs.

Though the trial court acknowledged the question was not "very good" and that 
"we probably should have elaborated a little bit on this," it excused the juror 
for lack of neutrality.

The state supreme court found error in that ruling alone.

"A prospective juror's conscientious objection to capital punishment is not by 
itself a sufficient basis for excluding that person from jury service," Judge 
Mariano-Florentino Cuellar wrote for the court. "Although the juror here also 
stated that her beliefs would make it 'difficult' to vote for execution, we 
have explained that [b]ecause the California death penalty sentencing process 
contemplates that jurors will take into account their own values in determining 
whether aggravating factors outweigh mitigating factors such that the death 
penalty is warranted, the circumstance that a juror's conscientious opinions or 
beliefs concerning the death penalty would make it very difficult for the juror 
ever to impose the death penalty is not equivalent to a determination that such 
beliefs will substantially impair the performance of his [or her] duties as a 
juror.'" (Brackets in original).

Cuellar added: "Prospective Juror No. 129's written responses did not clearly 
reveal personal views that would interfere with her ability to judge the 
penalty based on the evidence presented. Rather, her written responses, at 
worst, left it uncertain whether she had the ability to perform as a juror. 
Because those responses did not 'clearly reveal' an inability to perform her 
duties, the trial court erred in granting the prosecution's challenge for cause 
without examining the juror in court to ascertain her true state of mind. When 
a trial court errs in excusing a prospective juror for cause because of that 
person's views concerning the death penalty, we must reverse the penalty. We do 
so in this case."

(source: Courthouse News)






USA:

Fell: Death penalty views changing


It has been nearly 10 years since Donald Fell was sentenced to death in the 
kidnapping, carjacking and death of a North Clarendon grandmother. But since 
his sentencing, the death penalty debate has shifted dramatically, according to 
defense testimony Tuesday in Rutland federal court.

"The way we talk about the death penalty is very different today," said Michael 
L. Radelet, a professor in the department of sociology at the University of 
Colorado in Boulder. ???Attitudes toward the death penalty have changed more 
rapidly than any other social issue other than gay marriage."

Radelet, who has published extensively on issues related to the death penalty, 
testified during the 2nd day of defense testimony in a 10-day federal hearing 
on the death penalty in Fell's case.

In 1976, according to Radelet, 16 countries had abolished the death penalty, 
but today executions are confined to 5 countries including the U.S., China, 
Yemen, Iran and Iraq.

19 states, including Vermont and the District of Columbia, have abolished the 
death penalty and 4 states have a governor-imposed moratorium, according to the 
Death Penalty Information Center.

In 2005, Fell was convicted by a jury in the death of Terry King, 53, after he 
and accomplice Robert Lee stopped her at gunpoint in the Rutland Price Chopper 
parking lot on her way into work in the early-morning hours of Nov. 27, 2000.

According to prosecutors, Fell and Lee took King in her car to a remote field 
in Essex County, New York, and killed her.

Lee died in prison before he could be tried; Fell was convicted in 2005 and 
sentenced to death the next year.

But claims of juror misconduct surfaced and Fell was granted a new trial, 
slated to begin in 2017. Nonetheless, Vermont U.S. Attorney Eric Miller is 
seeking the death penalty again in Fell's case.

Because Vermont abolished the death penalty, if convicted a second time and 
sentenced to death Fell would be executed in the nearest death penalty state in 
the Second Circuit.

Radelet pointed out how the number of death sentences has been steadily 
declining. In 1998, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, 295 
prisoners were sentenced to death; in 2006, Fell was 1 of 123 sentenced to 
death; and in 2015 there were 49 death sentences handed down.

As part of his research, Radelet said that he and a colleague surveyed former 
and current presidents of the country's top academic criminological societies 
and 88 % of these experts rejected the notion that the death penalty acts as a 
deterrent to murder.

Also, Radelet referred to a study by the National Research Council that 
concluded research to date is insufficient to establish that the death penalty 
is an effective deterrent to crime.

Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford asked Radelet his views on arguments in favor of the 
death penalty.

Citing 3 specific flaws, Radelet replied that the death penalty does not 
account for the number of wrongful convictions, there is no data that supports 
the death penalty as an effective deterrent, and there is no way of knowing 
what is in the mind of someone who is planning a crime.

Also, Radelet said that when Illinois commuted several death row sentences, 
some experts predicted that each commutation would cause 5 murders.

Homicides dropped sharply in that state between 2003 and 2011, he said.

In referencing the number of wrongful convictions, Radelet said there is a 
continuing flow of innocent inmates released from death row.

"Last year 6 people were released, most having served 25 years," he said. "In 
2014, 7 were released from death row as innocent. One had been in for 30 
years."

Crawford expressed his concerns and asked Radelet about such errors.

"The number 1 cause of error is prejudicial prosecutorial testimony," he said. 
"Prosecutorial misconduct, false confessions, fraudulent forensics."

Crawford responded.

"It is upsetting to think this is happening," he said.

The hearing is expected to continue through July 22, with government witnesses 
testifying next week.

(source: Times Argus)

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

Wednesday Roof hearing could end dispute between state, federal authorities


It's a tale of 2 trials. Both state and federal prosecutors are seeking the 
death penalty for accused Emanuel AME church shooter Dylann Roof.

There has been an ongoing battle over which court should have the chance to try 
him first, and it all could be settled Wednesday afternoon at the Charleston 
County Courthouse.

State prosecutors believe their trial against Roof is the utmost importance to 
citizens in Charleston County.

As it stands, the state proceeding is scheduled for Jan. 2017, 2 months after 
the federal trial.

Solicitor Scarlett Wilson says it should start before the federal trial to 
avoid issues with custody and carrying out Roof's sentence.

The State argues if the feds sentence Roof to life without possibility of 
parole, they will never get the chance to put him to death.

Part of the battle is there no legal model for this situation. Roof is believed 
to be the 1st defendant in U.S. history to be subject to state and federal 
death-penalty prosecutions at the same time.

In federal court Roof was indicted on 33 charges, including hate crimes. The 
state is charging him with attempted murder, 9 counts of murder among other 
charges.

He is being held in the Charleston County jail.

(source: live5news.com)