[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.C., FLA., ARK., KAN.

[Rick Halperin]

June 22




NORTH CAROLINA:

My sister's murder and the death penalty----My sister, Kathy Lu McCoy, was 
murdered 42 years ago


My sister, Kathy Lu McCoy, was abducted off of the streets of Spokane, 
Washington in 1974, and found murdered several hours later. The crime was 
extremely brutal, and her last few hours of life were hell on earth.

Her killer, Harry Edward Brooks, was apprehended shortly after she was found, 
received a life sentence, and remains in prison 41 years later.

While not a hate crime by legal definition, it was a hate crime, similar to the 
thousands of homicides, and tens of thousands of rapes and other violent acts, 
committed against women each year simply because they are women. The inability 
of women to move about independently without having extra fear of violence 
because of their gender remains a great civil rights problem.

The cruelty of the crime against my sister made me feel, among other emotions, 
a visceral desire for retribution. It did not, however, change my opposition 
to, or my family's opposition to, the death penalty.

That opposition was rooted above all in the arbitrary and discriminatory manner 
in which the penalty had been imposed historically. It was patently obvious 
then, and remains so today, that this punishment, and other profound flaws in 
the criminal justice system, were inextricably linked to race and class. In 
fairness, many good people had worked to make it less so, as they do today, but 
the justice system ultimately mirrors some of our society's inequities and 
injustices.

Those who have lost loved ones to violence of course have every right to feel 
however they do about that crime, and about what the fate of their loved one's 
killer should be. Among life's nightmares, such outrageous injustice ranks at 
the top for horror and damage from which there is no full recovery.

When a killer targets victims because of their race, sexual orientation, 
gender, religion, or other reasons motivated solely by hatred, that nightmare 
is even worse, because it rips the very fabric that binds us together as a 
nation and a people, and does violence to us all, never mind the added layer of 
violence to the victims' survivors. There are no adequate words for such crimes 
against humanity.

We hang on to the death penalty as a deterrent, with no persuasive evidence 
that it deters, and out of moral outrage and a belief that some crimes cannot 
be adequately punished without it. The logic and sentiment here make sense, but 
they do not make the death penalty any less imperfect in the way we employ it. 
It's bad public policy, in large part because it contains too many of the same 
biases and flaws that killers who receive it do. More and more people, 
including many family members of murder victims, hope we will stop using it, 
and make that fabric of our society stronger by doing so. My family and I are 
among them.

(source: Op-Ed; Pat McCoy is the Director of Action NC and a board member of 
Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation----Charlotte Observer)






FLORIDA:

U.S. prosecutors to seek death penalty at Spaniard's retrial


Prosecutors in the U.S. state of Florida have officially announced their 
intention to seek the death penalty for Spaniard Pablo Ibar in his retrial for 
a 1994 triple-murder, supporters of the defendant said here Tuesday.

Though "expected," the prosecutor's decision has caused "deep disappointment," 
the spokesman for the Pablo Ibar Anti-Death Penalty Association, Andres 
Krakenberger, told a press conference in the northern Spanish city of Vitoria.

Ibar, who has spent 16 years on death row in the United States, will face a new 
trial, according to a Florida Supreme Court ruling that overturned his death 
sentence handed down in 2000.

Nightclub owner Casimir "Butch Casey" Sucharski, 48, and models Sharon Anderson 
and Marie Rogers, both 25, were killed during a June 1994 home invasion in the 
South Florida city of Miramar.

The now-45-year-old Ibar was initially tried for the triple homicide along with 
co-defendant Seth Penalver in 1997, but a mistrial was declared.

Penalver was convicted 2 years later and sentenced to death, but that 
conviction was subsequently annulled and he was acquitted in a new trial in 
2012.

Ibar was convicted in 2000, but the Florida Supreme Court overturned that 
verdict by a 4-3 vote in February of this year based on, among other things, 
the fact that his DNA was not found on a T-shirt that was recovered from the 
murder scene and which one of the perpetrators had used to partially cover his 
face.

Krakenberger on Tuesday slammed the "coldness" of the document in which the 
state of Florida announced its intention to seek the death penalty at the 
retrial, which in his opinion showed that execution in the U.S. is considered 
just part of the procedure, despite it being "cruel, inhuman and degrading 
punishment that has no place in the 21st century."

Krakenberger said that Ibar, who was taken off death row early this month, 
though he remains behind bars, took the news with a "certain resignation," but 
said that in general he is in good spirits and that his situation has improved.

The spokesman said he doesn't know when the retrial will take place because 
there are "too many variables" and the state of Florida might ask for a 
postponement.

He also said he continues to collect money for the retrial, since it will cost 
$1.3 million and for that another $590,000 are needed.

Finally, Krakenberger said that Ibar's defense has presented a series of 
motions to bar various pieces of evidence from the new trial due to their 
inconsistency.

He said that Ibar's family shows support for the victims of the "senseless" 
triple murder, which "must not go unpunished."

"The state of Florida must bring to justice those who were truly guilty," but 
Pablo Ibar "is innocent," he said.

(source: Fox News)






ARKANSAS:

Man could face death penalty in Texarkana, Ark., drug-related home invasion


A man accused of wearing a mask when he fatally shot another during a 
drug-related home invasion in a Texarkana, Ark., apartment complex last year 
has been charged with capital murder.

Justin Damone Johnson, 28, faces death by lethal injection or life without the 
possibility of parole if found guilty of capital murder in the death of 
22-year-old Travon Staten during a shooting Nov. 15 at the Beacon Point 
Apartments. Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie Black signed a felony information 
Thursday formally charging Johnson.

According to a search warrant affidavit for cell phone records, Staten was 
allegedly selling controlled substances from his apartment and opened the door 
for a customer shortly before midnight on the day of his death. Several men 
with masked faces allegedly walked into Staten's apartment, where he was 
visiting with friend Rashod Rushing, 28. Staten's girlfriend and her infant 
child were present during the shooting but unharmed. Rushing, who allegedly 
told investigators he dropped to the floor when bullets started whizzing, said 
he grabbed a pistol as the smoke cleared and went outside. Texarkana, Ark., 
police spokeswoman Kristi Bennett described the shooting as a "drug-related 
home invasion," in earlier press statements.

Rushing allegedly found Justin Bolton, masked and suffering from a gunshot 
wound, crawling on the ground. Rushing is accused of firing 2 shots into Bolton 
that ended his life. Rushing is charged with 2nd degree murder in Bolton's 
death in an information signed by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Connie Mitchell 
in February. He could receive 6 to 30 years if found guilty.

Johnson was at large for about 5 months before he was taken into custody by 
federal marshals.

Johnson has been accused of murder before. Johnson was accused in 2010 by 
authorities in New Mexico of killing 2 brothers and critically injuring a woman 
in a drug related confrontation. He was acquitted of the charges by a New 
Mexico jury in 2012. He is being held without bail in the Miller County jail on 
the orders of a Miller County circuit judge.

Johnson is scheduled to appear for arraignment on the capital murder charge 
before Circuit Judge Kirk Johnson next month.

(source: txktoday.com)






KANSAS:

Suspect in Kansas detective's death waives extradition -- Man was released from 
hospital on Monday


The man accused of fatally shooting a Kansas City, Kan., police detective has 
agreed to be returned to Kansas from Missouri for prosecution.

Curtis Ayers had been hospitalized under guard until Monday since being shot 
May 9 by police during his arrest in Kansas City, Mo., hours after prosecutors 
say he killed Brad Lancaster near the Kansas Speedway.

The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/28Lx3p0 ) reports Ayers on Tuesday signed 
extradition paperwork and agreed to be transferred to Kansas, where he faces a 
murder charge carrying the possible death penalty if he's convicted.

29-year-old Ayers also faces charges in Missouri's Jackson County and Kansas' 
Leavenworth County for alleged crimes that followed the shooting involving 
Lancaster.

Police used Lancaster's handcuffs on Ayers when they transported him Monday 
from the hospital to jail.

(source: Associated Press)