[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.C., FLA., ALA., MO., NEV., CALIF., USA

[Rick Halperin]

March 15



NORTH CAROLINA:

Friends, admirers remembering and honoring Darryl Hunt


People all over North Carolina and, indeed, all over the world have been 
issuing statements of remembrance and appreciation for Darryl Hunt during the 
last 48 hours since Hunt, a gentle soul who crusaded for justice in our 
criminal system after having been denied it himself for almost 20 years, died 
this past weekend.

Here's the Rev. William Barber of the North Carolina NAACP:

"Darryl was a wounded healer in the greatest sense. I can remember him often 
saying that he has forgiven those who put him in jail when they knew he was 
innocent, but he has not forgotten. For Darryl, it was a spiritual matter. He 
would say that he did not know how to ask others or God for forgiveness if he 
was not willing to forgive those who imprisoned him. He was not going to let 
them imprison him again with bitterness. And neither would he let them keep him 
from fighting for justice.

Darryl traveled the nation and the world with his witness that injustice does 
not have the last word. For a generation of activists, Darryl was hope 
incarnate. Justice was his calling. Courage and love was his answer. We pledge 
to you brother Darryl, that your spirit lives on in each of us. Those you 
touched will touch others and others as we keep our hands on the freedom plow. 
Let it be so."

And here's Allen Johnson of Darryl's hometown newspaper, the Winston-Salem 
Journal expressing amazement at the peace and grace Hunt displayed after seeing 
Hunt speak at North Carolina A&T:

"Hunt simply talked about what he had lived: the wrongful rape-and-murder 
conviction that put him behind bars for 19 years and could have cost him his 
life; his work to help free others who are wrongfully imprisoned; and his utter 
lack of bitterness about all that had been done to him in the name of the law.

Not toward a system that had sent him to prison in 1985 based on flimsy 
evidence and a flawed investigation.

Not toward the prosecutor in the case, whom he would see often during walks in 
downtown Winston-Salem.

Not toward people who still believed he had stabbed and raped Winston-Salem 
Sentinel copy editor Deborah Sykes in 1984, even after his innocence was proven 
in 2004.

And not toward the man who actually had committed the crime and confessed to it 
after DNA evidence had exonerated Hunt."

And here's Barry Saunders writing in Raleigh's News & Observer on a similar 
note:

"Do you want to know what kind of spirit this cat had?

The Rev. Carlton Eversley, Hunt's friend and chairman of the Darryl Hunt 
Project, told me that the day Hunt got out of prison the first thing he said 
was, 'There are other Darryl Hunts in there.'

Odds are that not all of them will be as forgiving as Darryl if and when they 
get out because he was, as the Rev. Eversley said, 'a remarkable human being.'

Ricki Stern, co-director of the award-winning documentary 'The Trials of Darryl 
Hunt,' also marveled at his spirit. 'We spent a lot of time with him when he 
was released,' she told me Monday. 'He was a quiet, thoughtful person who, 
right when he was released from prison, was concerned about doing something for 
others. He really was an amazing guy ... a kind, gentle person.'" And 
yesterday, the ACLU of North Carolina, which had been planning to honor Hunt on 
April 2 for his work against the death penalty, issued this statement:

"Darryl Hunt, who became a crusader for criminal justice reform after serving 
19 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, passed away in Winston-Salem 
this weekend. We are deeply saddened by this loss and send our thoughts and 
condolences to Darryl's family, friends and others whose lives he touched 
deeply.

A tireless advocate for reforming our nation's broken criminal justice system 
through his nonprofit organization, the Darryl Hunt Project for Freedom and 
Justice, Darryl was named the recipient of this year's Paul Green Award, to be 
presented at our 2016 Liberty Awards, for his work to end the death penalty and 
educate the public about its injustice.

Please join us on Saturday, April 2, in Chapel Hill as we honor Darryl's legacy 
and present his award posthumously, as well as celebrate the work of other 
civil liberties heroes.

2016 Liberty Awards Dinner: Protecting Democracy

Keynote Speaker: Dale Ho, ACLU Voting Rights Project Director

Saturday, April 2 at 5 p.m.

William and Ida Friday Center

100 Friday Center Drive, Chapel Hill, NC"

(source: ncpolicywatch.org)

***********

Darryl Hunt's remarkable presence will be missed


The one time I talked with Darryl Hunt in person, he was walking down 
Fayetteville Street in Raleigh with his attorney.

I gingerly approached him, because "gingerly" is the only way to approach 
someone who's done 6,935 days in prison and narrowly missed taking the dirt nap 
for something he didn't do. You definitely don't want to run up on somebody 
just awakening from that nightmare.

"Dude," I said, and began introducing myself.

He smiled and said "Aw man, I know who you are. We used to read you in the 
joint all the time." He said he was a fan.

Now, some of you may find it remarkable that I met a fan.

The most remarkable thing to me about my brief encounter with Hunt, though, is 
that he could smile so often. Even when he wasn't smiling, he exuded a 
peacefulness that defied my understanding, because if the law had done to me 
what it did to him - convicted him twice for a murder he didn't commit - you 
don't even want to know what kind of hell I'd have sought to unleash when I got 
out.

You, too?

I thought so.

Hunt spent 10 of those years behind bars even after DNA proved he was innocent, 
because the state and the Supreme Court then ruled that - uh, well, uh - he had 
an accomplice. Yeah, that's it: an accomplice.

Oy.

Stephen Dear, executive director of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, 
said in an N&O story after Hunt's death, "I think everyone who saw Darryl speak 
was deeply moved by the resilience and kindness and gentleness with which he 
spoke."

Dear got that right, because when I left Hunt that day, I was in awe.

I saw him a few times after that, but never approached lest I become a 
nuisance. I wish now that I'd at least thanked and praised him for the dignity 
he displayed, for the gentleness he emitted. Even more than that, I should've 
apologized for what the state of North Carolina did to him in our name.

No one will get the chance to apologize now.

Hunt was found dead Sunday, his body slumped in a truck near Wake Forest 
University.

It was just last week that I reached out to Ronald Cotton, the Burlington man 
who was falsely convicted of rape and did 10 years. After attending a speech by 
Jennifer Thompson Cannino, the woman whose eyewitness certitude that Cotton was 
her rapist resulted in him losing a decade of his life, I wanted to talk to 
Cotton. After DNA proved his innocence, Thompson-Cannino and he became friends 
and even went on a tour of sorts, talking about the case and the unreliability 
of eyewitness testimony.

The Innocence Project, which helped set Cotton free after he had used up all of 
his appeals, promised to pass along my message to Cotton but cautioned that I 
shouldn't expect to hear back from him. Seems Ronald Cotton doesn't like to 
talk about what he's been through, I was told.

The Rev. Carlton Eversley, Darryl Hunt's friend and chairman of the Darryl Hunt 
Project, told me that the day Hunt got out of prison the 1st thing he said was, 
"There are other Darryl Hunts in there."

That is understandable, way more understandable than Hunt's fervor in speaking 
out against the death penalty and that beatific smile. Do you want to know what 
kind of spirit this cat had?

Odds are that not all of them will be as forgiving as Darryl if and when they 
get out because he was, as the Rev. Eversley said, "a remarkable human being."

Ricki Stern, co-director of the award-winning documentary "The Trials of Darryl 
Hunt," also marveled at his spirit. "We spent a lot of time with him when he 
was released," she told me Monday. "He was a quiet, thoughtful person who, 
right when he was released from prison, was concerned about doing something for 
others. He really was an amazing guy ... a kind, gentle person."

Despite my myriad run-ins with the law, the longest I've ever been locked up at 
one time for something I didn't do was 3 days. That was too long, and I emerged 
bitter and angry. Now, try to imagine doing nearly 20 years, 10 of them after 
they knew you were innocent.

If what happened to him had happened to me, I'm not sure I wouldn't have become 
homicidal.

In the fictional movie "The Shawshank Redemption," the narrator tells how 
wrongly convicted Andy Dufresne, who also did 20 years in prison, escaped: He 
"crawled through a river of [crap] and came out clean on the other side."

Darryl Hunt walked through the same kind of river and came out clean. Eversley, 
pastor of Dellabrook Presbyerian Church in Winston Salem, said Hunt "emerged 
from prison a man of grace and forgiveness with a remarkable lack of anger and 
bitterness. That was a remarkable spiritual achievement. ... He converted to 
Islam in prison, but I told him he had more Jesus in him than a lot of 
Christians.

"If what happened to him had happened to me," the Rev. Eversley said, "I'm not 
sure I wouldn't have become homicidal."

Amen, Rev.

Friends said Hunt had been struggling with a lot of challenges. His wife of 15 
years and he had divorced and he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Asked what 
he thinks caused Hunt's death, Eversley said, "We don't think anybody did 
anything to Darryl."

Maybe not that night.

(source: Barry Saunders, News & Observer)

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

DA will seek death penalty in Clark murder


The District Attorney's Office plans to seek the death penalty against Justin 
Nojan Sullivan, the man accused of killing his neighbor more than a year ago.

Prosecutors announced the decision on Monday during a first appearance in the 
murder case against Sullivan, who is charged in the killing of John Bailey 
Clark in December 2014. A Burke County grand jury indicted Sullivan for murder 
in February.

Sullivan also is accused by the federal government of helping the terrorist 
group ISIL. He was arrested by the FBI on June 19.

A federal grand jury indicted Sullivan on Jan. 20 with attempting to provide 
material support to ISIL; receipt of a silencer in interstate commerce with 
intent to commit a felony; receipt and possession of an unregistered firearm; 
concealment and storage of a stolen firearm; use of interstate facilities in 
the attempted commission of a murder-for-hire; and 2 counts of making false 
statements to FBI agents. He has entered a plea of not guilty on the federal 
charges.

Sullivan is being housed at the Buncombe County Detention Center in Asheville 
on the federal charges without bond. He is represented by Defense Attorney 
Victoria Jayne, who filed motions on Monday that all proceedings be recorded 
and that evidence be preserved, according to information District Attorney 
David Learner's office. Prosecutors did not object to either motion, the 
information said.

The federal indictments say Sullivan stole a .22-calibur rifle from his 
father's gun cabinet and later used it to kill Clark.

The federal government says forensic testing shows the rifle was used to murder 
Clark.

Clark, who was 74 years old and lived at of 5576 Rose Carswell Road in 
Morganton, was found Dec. 18, 2014 buried in a shallow grave in his yard. He 
had been shot in the head 3 times with a small-caliber gun.

Detectives found a trail of blood and drag marks coming out of Clark's home, 
and followed these into the victim's bedroom, according to court documents. In 
the bedroom they found what appeared to be more blood on the bed and wall.

A trail outside the home, presumed to be blood droplets, led investigators to a 
shallow grave in the front yard.

Continued investigation of the case led to 19-year-old Sullivan, who also lived 
on Rose Carswell Road with his parents, according to previous statements from 
prosecutors.

According to the indictments, law enforcement interviewed Sullivan on separate 
occasions and Sullivan lied about the weapons he had in his possession and his 
involvement in Clark's murder. After initially lying to agents about having a 
rifle, an FBI search found muddy clothes, the .22-calibur rifle, a black ski 
mask and a lock pick kit hidden in the crawl space of his parent's home, along 
with the silencer. The indictment says Sullivan admitted on June 20, 2015 that 
he stole the rifle from the gun cabinet and hid it in the crawl space.

When FBI agents arrested Sullivan, they found $689 on him, which he later 
admitted was Clark's, according to the federal indictments. Federal information 
has said Sullivan planned to buy an AR-15 rifle at a Hickory gun show but he 
was arrested before the gun show. On June 17, 2015 he attempted to buy hollow 
point bullets from a gun dealer to use with the rifle, the indictment said.

The Burke County Sheriff's Office and the SBI continue to investigate the 
murder case with assistance from the FBI, according to the District Attorney's 
Office.

(source: The News Herald)

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

Teen accused of supporting ISIS, killing neighbor faces death penalty


A Morganton teenager accused of trying to help ISIS will face the death penalty 
in a separate murder case.

Justin Sullivan, 19, is accused of killing his neighbor months before he 
expressed support for the terror group, authorities said.

Sullivan was calm in court on Monday and answered every question from the judge 
without hesitation, even when she asked if he understood that the charge 
against him could cost him his life.

Sullivan, charged with killing a man as practice for a large-scale terrorist 
attack, stood confidently when asked to rise and kept eye contact with the 
judge.

Sullivan's father said his son masked his true feelings.

"He's still scared, though," Rich Sullivan said.

He doesn't see his son as an accused killer or an ISIS convert.

"(I have) flashbacks of how he was and what he could have been," Rich Sullivan 
said.

Rich Sullivan said Justin Sullivan now regrets his actions. He reported his son 
after discovering him acting strangely.

Federal agents said Justin watched video of ISIS attacks, including beheadings.

They said he planned to launch large-scale attacks and kill hundreds of people.

He was even ready to kill his parents if they got in his way, agents said, but 
he wanted to practice killing first.

Police said he used his father's rifle to kill his neighbor, Johnny Clark, 74, 
then buried Clark's body in Clark's back yard.

"He was such a wonderful man," Clark's cousin, Gladys Clark, said. "He didn't 
hurt anyone."

She said she's glad that the murder case is moving quickly, and she had a 
message for Justin Sullivan.

"God have mercy on your soul," she said.

Because this is a death penalty case, Justin Sullivan will get a 2nd attorney 
to help defend him on the charge of murder.

He already has another attorney who was with him in court on Monday to 
represent him on federal charges.

(source: WSOC TV news)






FLORIDA:

Lawyers seek to overturn death penalty in Jacksonville double murder


Lawyers for a Jacksonville man on death row are asking the Florida Supreme 
Court to throw out his death-penalty sentence, arguing that it is not 
proportionate to the 2 murders for which he was convicted.

Terrance Tyrone Phillips, 24, was convicted of killing Mateo H. Perez, 26, and 
Renaldo Antunez-Padilla, 30, as part of a 2009 Christmas Eve robbery that 
turned violent at their Jacksonville apartment. Phillips was 1 of 4 people 
convicted in the case, but the only one to get the death penalty.

"I'd just submit this is not a death case," said attorney Martin McClain in 
arguments to the Florida Supreme Court last week. "He's not among the worst of 
the worst."

It's not clear that Phillips was the actual shooter, and there's evidence to 
suggest he was not the one who planned the robbery or was the driving force 
behind the commission of the crime, McClain said.

Phillips was 18 at the time of the shooting and is still one of the youngest 
people on death row, McClain said. He also noted the shooting occurred while 
Phillips was in a fight with Perez and Antunez-Padilla.

Supreme Court justices appeared open to the argument last week during oral 
arguments, with Justice Barbara Pariente saying it was a "close case."

"In this case it does not seem like the defendant was the ring leader," 
Pariente said.

Perez, Antunez-Padilla and Aurelio Salgado were all roommates shopping in a 
convenience store when 2 women, Barbara Ann Anders, 24, and Shanise Bing, 23, 
approached the trio and gave them their phone number before leaving the store.

Later the women agreed to meet the men back at their Lighthouse Bay Apartments 
unit and led the 3 men to believe they were prostitutes. But the 2 women, 
Phillips and Antonio Lorenzo Baker, 26, actually planned to rob the men, police 
said.

McClain argued that the plan to rob the men was dreamed up by Anders and Bing, 
and Phillips shouldn't be viewed as the ringleader or dominant force.

But when Phillips and Baker rushed into the room where the 3 men and 2 women 
were, the three men fought back. Police said Perez and Antunez-Padilla were 
shot and killed while Salgado was hit over the head with a beer bottle before 
being thrown out of the room.

Police and prosecutors said it was Phillips who fired the fatal shots, but last 
week McClain told justices it may have been Baker because Salgado's description 
of who had the gun sounded more like Baker than Phillips.

Anders said she saw the gun in Phillips' hand, but she was Baker's girlfriend 
and originally said Baker had the gun, so there's reason to doubt her story, 
McClain said.

Pariente expressed some doubt, pointing out that the jury specifically found 
the murder was premeditated and that Phillips was the one who fired the gun. 
She also wondered if the fact that Phillips had been convicted of killing 2 
people instead of 1 made death more justifiable.

McClain countered that Phillips had no intention to kill when he entered that 
apartment, and the evidence of a premeditated murder was weak.

Assistant Attorney General Berdene Beckles said Phillips was the only one with 
a gun, and no one else told him to bring a weapon. She also said Phillips 
pulled out the gun before the victims started to fight back.

He also shot 1 person and then shot another, and that means there was 
premeditation and he had time to reflect, Beckles said.

There is no evidence that Phillips couldn't get out of the apartment if he'd 
wanted too, but he chose to stay and kill 2 people, Beckles said.

Phillips was convicted and jurors recommended death by an 8-4 vote before 
Circuit Judge Mark Hulsey sentenced him to death.

Baker was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Prosecutors dropped the murder charges against Anders and Bing, and they 
pleaded guilty to lesser charges with Anders getting a year in prison and Bing 
getting 6 months. Both women testified against Phillips.

Chief Justice Jorge Labarga expressed frustration at the light sentence for 
Anders and Bing, saying they appeared to have come up with the robbery plan.

It's tough to justify death for Phillips when the 2 people who came up with the 
plan got such light sentences, Labarga said.

Phillips was not at last week's oral argument. The Supreme Court usually takes 
6 months to a year to issue rulings on death-penalty appeals after they hear 
oral arguments.

(source: The Florida Times-Union)






ALABAMA:

Lawyers for Kevin Towles argue Alabama death penalty statute unconstitutional


Lawyers for an Etowah County man convicted twice of beating a 5-year-old boy to 
death argued today in a hearing that Alabama's capital punishment sentencing 
scheme is unconstitutional.

And though a circuit judge denied the motion, the hearing highlighted arguments 
currently going on in courtrooms throughout the state on the legality of the 
existing law.

An Etowah County jury in December found Kevin Andre Towles guilty of capital 
murder in the 2006 beating death of 5-year-old Geontae Glass. He had previously 
been convicted in 2009 and was sentenced to die, but his verdict was overturned 
by the Alabama Supreme Court.

Towles is scheduled to be sentenced at 10 a.m. Tuesday. His lawyers, Dani and 
Sam Bone, argued that Alabama's capital punishment statute is similar to 
Florida's, which was struck down recently by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Florida and Alabama, along with Delaware, are the only 3 states that have 
judicial override - where judges can impose a death sentence over the wishes of 
juries that recommend life without parole sentences in capital murder cases.

A number of defense attorneys around the state have filed similar motions to 
bar the death penalty on behalf of their clients since the U.S. Supreme Court 
ruling nearly 2 months ago.

However, Towles' case is unique in that judicial override would benefit him. 
The same jury that convicted him voted unanimously to recommend the death 
penalty - a fact that both the defense and prosecutors mentioned during today's 
hearing.

However, Circuit Judge David Kimberley asked several questions of Towles' 
lawyers, indicating in part his reasoning for denying the motion. Kimberley 
cited the Supreme Court's ruling in the Florida case that judges were able to 
make overriding decisions based on information and facts that juries did not 
hear. In Alabama, however, juries are given the responsibility of determining 
aggravating circumstances - whether a crime was particularly cruel or heinous.

Kimberley said the Florida statute did not do so. And prosecutors pointed out 
that an appeal along similar lines was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court in 
the case of Christopher Eugene Brooks. Brooks has been executed since the 
Florida decision.

"The jury has to make the finding that makes anybody eligible for the death 
penalty," Kimberly said. "I can't sentence somebody to death unless the jury 
specifically finds aggravating circumstances."

Earlier this month, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Tracie Todd barred the death 
penalty in the cases of 4 men charged in 3 murders. Then last week, Alabama 
Attorney General Luther Strange announced his office has filed a petition for a 
writ of mandamus asking the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to order Todd to 
vacate her March 3 order declaring Alabama's "capital sentencing scheme" to be 
facially unconstitutional.

Towles was accused of beating Geontae to death over a weekend following a 
conduct report at a Rainbow City elementary school. Then Towles and the child's 
mother, Shalinda Glass, staged a kidnapping in order to dispose of the body.

Shalinda told authorities Geontae had been asleep in the back seat of her car 
when the car was stolen from an Albertville service station. The boy was found 
later in the car, dead in the trunk, at another home owned by Towles. 
Authorities were able to discover the address when they found a utility bill 
bearing the address of the home when they conducted a search of another home 
Towles owned.

(source: al.com)






MISSOURI:

Missouri judge denies Sheley's change of venue request----Motion requesting new 
judge also denied


A convicted spree killer's requests to have his Jefferson County murder trial 
moved and judge changed were denied.

Assistant Prosecutor Attorney Steven Jerrell successfully opposed Nicholas 
Sheley, 36, by shutting down several argumentative exhibits: that Jefferson 
County residents are prejudiced because of TV news video that aired in 2008; 
that residents are biased because of online news coverage; and that a jury 
cannot be selected because of several out-of-state newspaper articles.

"We don't pick juries here from Iowa, Illinois or Wisconsin," Jerrell said in 
the argument submitted to Circuit Judge Nathan B. Stewart.

In addition, the defense failed to establish a relationship between the news 
video, TV scripts, and the survey results produced by Thomas Beisecker, 
University of Kansas communications studies professor, the sole witness at a 
Jan. 25 hearing.

He testified on Sheley's behalf that there is a "substantial amount" of 
prejudice. Sheley is accused of killing Tom and Jill Estes of Sherwood, 
Arkansas, after police say he attacked the couple outside a Festus, Missouri, 
hotel in 2008.

Jerrell refuted the survey results of 307 Jefferson County residents.

"There were quite a few problems with the reliability. ... Specifically whether 
or not the people surveyed were even qualified to be a juror," he wrote, noting 
it was a random telephone survey, and it could not be determined whether three 
people in the 18-24 age group were at least 21 (to be eligible for jury 
service).

"It only takes 34 unbiased people in a jury pool for this case to pick 12 
jurors and 2 alternates," he said. Of 307 people surveyed, 122 said they had 
not read, seen or heard anything about the murders; 5 were unsure.

Jerrell also asked the judge to consider the age of the case itself. Because of 
continuances, "this case will be over 8 years old when finally tried. That 
means a 13-year-old in June 2008 could be a potential juror in June 2016."

Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty for Sheley, if convicted.

Sheley was extradited in February 2015 from Illinois to Missouri.

In May 2014, he was convicted of killing four people in Rock Falls - Brock 
Branson, 29; his fiancee Kilynna Blake, 20; her 2-year-old son Dayan; and 
Kenneth Ulve, 25.

In November 2012, he was convicted in Whiteside County of bludgeoning 
93-year-old Russel Reed in Sterling. In September 2011, Sheley was convicted in 
Knox County of killing 65-year-old Ronald Randall. His change-of-venue requests 
in those trials were denied.

In April 2013, he won his 3rd request citing pretrial publicity, and his 2nd 
Whiteside County trial was moved to Rock Island County.

All 6, and the Esteses, were killed between June 23 and 30, 2008.

The change-of-venue ruling was made Feb. 22. Sheley's next hearing is June 15.

(source: saukvalley.com)



NEVADA:

Ex-felon to challenge legality of Nevada state death penalty


A 46-year-old ex-convict accused of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend and 
wounding her mother more than 3 years ago wants to challenge the 
constitutionality of Nevada's death penalty.

Robert Brown Jr.'s defense attorney, Andrea Luem, told a Clark County District 
Court judge on Tuesday that she's also preparing jury questionnaires ahead of 
Brown's capital murder trial, scheduled to begin Aug. 29.

Brown is accused of killing 29-year-old Nichole Nick and wounding Nick's 
58-year-old mother in December 2012 in a Las Vegas apartment.

Police also reported finding a bullet hole in Nick's 3-year-old niece's bed, 
but the girl wasn't wounded.

Brown has been jailed since his arrest in April 2014 in Los Angeles.

He was convicted in 1998 in California of trying to kill his then-wife, and 
spent 7 years in prison.

(source: Associated Press)






CALIFORNIA:

2 Suspects To Face Trial In Death Of UCLA Student Found In Burned Westwood 
Apartment


2 young men were ordered Monday to stand trial for the stabbing death of a 
21-year-old UCLA student whose body was discovered after a fire at her Westwood 
apartment last year.

Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Mark Zuckman found sufficient evidence 
after a 3-day hearing to require Alberto Hinojosa Medina and Eric Marquez, both 
22, to stand trial on a murder charge stemming from the Sept. 21 death of 
Andrea DelVesco, according to Deputy District Attorney Victor Avila.

The 2 are also charged with 2 counts of 1st-degree burglary with a person 
present involving DelVesco's apartment and another apartment in the same block.

Medina is facing a special circumstance allegation of murder during the 
commission of a burglary. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the 
death penalty against Medina, who faces an allegation that he personally used a 
knife in the commission of the crime.

Medina is also charged with 1 felony count each of arson of an inhabited 
structure or property and cruelty to an animal involving DelVesco's 
Chihuahua-terrier mix, who was euthanized as a result of his injuries from the 
fire, according to the prosecutor.

Defense attorneys unsuccessfully asked the court commissioner to dismiss the 
charges against their clients.

Medina's attorney, Dmitry Gorin, said after the hearing that his client has 
denied being involved in the killing and that there is no direct evidence that 
Medina was in DelVesco's house at the time she was killed.

Medina and Marquez - who were arrested in late September - remain jailed and 
are due back in court March 28 for arraignment at the Airport Courthouse in Los 
Angeles.

DelVesco's body was found inside her apartment by firefighters.

The 21-year-old Austin, Texas, woman - a member of the Pi Beta Phi - was 
entering her 4th year at UCLA studying psychology and Spanish.

The 2 men were linked to DelVesco???s death through forensic evidence collected 
at the scene of the Sept. 21 fire in the 10900 block of Roebling Street, as 
well as witness statements, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Medina was arrested in Fresno, and Marquez was taken into custody near his 
apartment in Westwood, according to police.

At the time, Marquez was a 5th-year undergraduate student at UCLA, majoring in 
biology, according to UCLA. Medina was a Fresno State University student at the 
time, according to media reports.

(source: CBS news)

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

Defense seeks to reopen death row case, alleging prosecutor lied about 
jailhouse informants


Attorneys for convicted murderer William Payton are asking a federal judge to 
reopen his case, alleging that a former Orange County prosecutor lied about 2 
jailhouse informants used in the trial.

Payton is on California's death row for the 1980 stabbing death of a Garden 
Grove woman. He is the next Orange County inmate in line for execution.

In a legal motion filed Friday, Payton's attorneys alleged then-Deputy District 
Attorney Mike Jacobs withheld background information about jailhouse informants 
who testified against Payton in 1982.

When the conviction was appealed, Jacobs testified during a 1999 deposition 
that the informants were not "agents" of the government in this case.

"The evidence is now clear that Michael Jacobs lied in his representations to 
the court that were used to defend Payton's conviction and sentence," federal 
Deputy Public Defender Margo Rocconi wrote.

Jacobs denied any misconduct. "When I testified, I testified truthfully to the 
total extent of my knowledge at the time," he said Monday.

A hearing before U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real is set for May 16.

Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff for the Orange County District Attorney's 
Office, said the eyewitness testimony and DNA evidence against Payton was 
"overwhelming."

"Payton is running out of appellate options from death row, so it's no surprise 
that he wants to keep re-litigating," Schroeder said.

Payton's defense team renewed the misconduct complaint in the wake of Orange 
County's ongoing snitch controversy, marked by allegations that police and 
prosecutors misused jail informants and withheld evidence.

Payton was convicted of the rape and murder of Pamela Montgomery, a 21-year-old 
woman stabbed a dozen times at a home in Garden Grove.

Payton also was convicted of trying to murder 2 others also in the home before 
dawn on May 26, 1980. Patricia Pensinger survived 40 stab wounds. Pensinger's 
10-year-old son, Blaine, was stabbed 23 times and lived.

Informant Daniel Escalera testified in the penalty phase of Payton's trial, 
saying Payton had admitted to having a "severe problem with sex and women" and 
wanting to "stab them and rape them."

Payton's attorneys say in court documents that the prosecutor portrayed 
Escalera and other informants as inmates who happened to overhear Payton or 
engage him in conversation.

But both informants had extensive records of working with law enforcement - 
information Rocconi said was not given to the defense team.

(source: Orange County Register)






USA:

Double cop killer taken off death row


Double cop killer Ronell Wilson is mentally unfit for the death penalty, a 
Brooklyn federal judge has ruled in a stunning decision announced Tuesday that 
spares the cold-blooded gangbanger's life.

The Bloods member was sentenced to death by a Brooklyn federal jury in 2013 for 
the point-blank shooting of 2 undercover NYPD cops in a Staten Island gun-buy 
bust gone bad in 2003.

But in his ruling, Judge Nicholas Garaufis found that Wilson "has demonstrated 
significantly subaverage intellectual functioning" and was therefore ineligible 
for the death penalty.

"These deficits arose during Wilson's developmental period, and they persisted 
through the time of the crime," Garaufis wrote.

The ruling states that Garaufis will issue an amended sentencing of life in 
prison that will override the prior death penalty.??

Wilson killed Detectives James Andrews and Rodney Nemorin after suspecting that 
they were cops.

While in jail, Wilson had enough mental capacity to seduce prison guard Nancy 
Gonzalez into having sex with him on multiple occasions. She became pregnant 
from him and later had his baby before becoming estranged from the murderer.

She was charged for the gross infraction and was also fired.

(source: New York Post)

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

Former death row inmate: Clinton wrong on death penalty


At the CNN Town Hall meeting between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders last 
night, I had the privilege of asking Clinton how she could still support the 
death penalty in light of all the innocent people in this county in recent 
years who have been wrongfully convicted and sent to death row.

I said last night that I was "satisfied" with Clinton's answer, but that does 
not mean I agree with her. While I respect her opinion and her honesty, I 
completely disagree with her position on the death penalty.

The fact that we too often send innocent people to death row in this country 
can no longer be debated.

I ought to know. I was one of them.

In 1975, I -- along with my 2 childhood friends and co-defendants Wiley 
Bridgeman and Kwame Ajamu -- was wrongfully convicted and sent to death row for 
the murder of a white businessman that occurred in our predominantly poor and 
black neighborhood in Cleveland. We spent more than 2 years on death row before 
having our sentences reduced to life in prison.

I came within 2 months of my execution date but was saved by a lucky 
technicality -- the court made a mistake filling out the death penalty 
sentencing paperwork. Bridgeman and Ajamu later escaped death only because the 
U.S. Supreme Court struck down Ohio's death penalty statute as 
unconstitutional.

They both came even closer to death -- 1 of them came within a week of his 
execution date.

If not for pure luck and chance, none of us would have been alive to see our 
exoneration nearly 40 years later.

Because of an investigation by the Cleveland Scene newspaper and the Ohio 
Innocence Project at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, we were 
vindicated and gained our freedom in November 2014. By that time, I had served 
39 years in prison for a murder I didn't commit -- the longest sentence by an 
innocent person in U.S. history.

I know that the death penalty does not deter. That can no longer be seriously 
debated.

I also know that it is very expensive at a time when states are struggling 
financially and many are on the brink of bankruptcy. As an expensive government 
program with no proven track record of effectiveness, it is, indeed, the 
proverbial "bridge to nowhere." But I also know that it sends innocent people 
to death row, and sometimes kills them.

Some of those likely innocents, such as Cameron Todd Willingham and Carlos 
DeLuna, have been executed at the hands of the government.

Other innocent inmates -- in fact more than 150 of them -- have been lucky 
enough to have been exonerated and freed before their execution.

Furthermore, I learned from my time on death row that even the guilty are 
worthy of salvation.

As an innocent and scared 18-year-old boy sent to death row, it was only the 
kindness and humanity of death row's guilty, who took me under their collective 
wing, that kept my sanity and maintained my faith in humanity. These inmates 
made horrible mistakes, and deserved to be punished, but they are not the 
animals our criminal justice makes them out to be.

A society should not be judged on how it treats its best, but rather on how it 
treats is lowest. And even the lowest are capable of incredible acts of 
humanity and are worthy of decency. They are worthy of God's grace, just as 
they bestowed grace upon me.

When I asked Clinton why she still supports the death penalty, she said she 
supported it only for the worst of the worst: those who committed acts of mass 
killing or terrorism. I cannot accept that.

In cases such as those, the societal pressure to convict is at its highest. And 
when an intense pressure to convict is present, that is when the risk of 
convicting an innocent is greatest.

The death penalty is also not a deterrent in terrorism cases. In fact, death 
can serve the purpose of many terrorists who wish to become "martyrs" for their 
cause.

During all the decades I sat in prison as an innocent man, I saw societal views 
gradually change. Not too many years ago, a Democratic candidate could not 
publicly support same-sex marriage and stand a chance of getting elected in a 
general election.

Now, a Democratic candidate could not be taken seriously if he or she didn't 
support same-sex marriage.

Likewise, no serious Democratic candidate should be able to support the death 
penalty. We have evolved. We have seen the evidence that the death penalty 
doesn't work and that it kills the innocent.

Given this evidence, it is time that no candidate -- Democrat or Republican -- 
should be taken seriously if he or she supports capital punishment.

The fact that Clinton continues to hang on to this antiquated relic confuses 
me. She touts "criminal justice reform" -- and much reform is needed -- but she 
misses one of the lowest hanging pieces of fruit.

I said last night that I am an "undecided" voter. I hope that Clinton 
reconsiders her position on capital punishment before I do what I have been 
waiting my entire life to do: cast my first presidential vote as a free and 
vindicated man.

(source: Ricky Jackson, WPTZ news)

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

Ending the Machinery of Death, Another Needed Criminal Justice Reform


"I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death," Supreme Court Justice 
Harry A. Blackmun wrote in a 1994 dissent where he declared, "the death penalty 
experiment has failed.": More than 150 death row inmates have been exonerated 
by evidence of innocence since 1973. A recent study has examined exonerations 
and concluded that at least 4% of those sentenced to death are indeed innocent. 
No wonder that support for the death penalty has decreased among all political 
affiliations with 56% of Democrats now opposing the "machinery of death."

I was so touched by Ricky Jackson who served 39 years for a murder that he 
didn't commit as he asked Hillary Clinton about her position on the death 
penalty at the Democratic town hall in Florida last Sunday. Jackson's story 
took my back to my college days in Columbia, Missouri. Inspired by the work of 
the Innocence Project, my wife and I joined other activists in publicizes the 
plight of Joseph Amrine, who was eventually exonerated and released off of 
death row. I was proud to have the University of Missouri's ACLU and Christian 
Legal Society join forces on a clemency petition for Joe and to sit next to 
Joe's attorney as his case was argued before the Missouri Supreme Court. The 
State of Missouri argued that Mr. Amrine should be executed even though no 
evidence remained to tie him to the murder after 3 witnesses recanted, 
admitting they had lied on the stand. 3 Missouri Supreme Court judges still 
wanted to allow the state to execute Joe, but fortunately 4 agreed that a new 
trial was warranted. One of the highlights of my life remains the day that 
Sarah served Joe his 1st meal as a free man at Shakespeare's Pizza in Columbia, 
Missouri.

Criminal justice issues have clearly been a big issue in the race for 
president, with a lot of time spent on the need to end our era mass 
incarceration. Capital punishment is another area of our criminal justice 
system that needs reform.

One Democratic candidate, Bernie Sanders, opposes the death penalty, while 
Hillary Clinton wants to keep the death penalty "in reserve." While I don't 
shed a tear for mass murderers, we can ensure that they serve life in prison 
without the possibility of parole, we don't gain anything as a nation by 
executing them. By executing people, even those guilty of horrific terrorist 
attacks, our nation could actually lose out on the ability to gather more 
evidence that can be helpful. Not to mention the horrific consequence of 
executing innocent people.

The exonerated Ricky Jackson, who barely escaped the machinery of death, penned 
an oped for CNN stating, "Given this evidence, it is time that no candidate - 
Democrat or Republican - should be taken seriously if he or she supports 
capital punishment."

At the Democratic town hall in South Carolina, when asked which Supreme Court 
Justice he admired, Bernie Sanders answered, "Thurgood Marshall was a damn good 
Supreme Court justice." Thurgood Marshall was one of the great heroes of our 
time and what he wrote about the death penalty in 1972 rings just as true 
today:

At a time in our history when the streets of the Nation's cities inspire fear 
and despair, rather than pride and hope, it is difficult to maintain 
objectivity and concern for our fellow citizens. But, the measure of a 
country's greatness is its ability to retain compassion in time of crisis. No 
nation in the recorded history of man has a greater tradition of revering 
justice and fair treatment for all its citizens in times of turmoil, confusion, 
and tension than ours. This is a country which stands tallest in troubled 
times, a country that clings to fundamental principles, cherishes its 
constitutional heritage, and rejects simple solutions that compromise the 
values that lie at the roots of our democratic system.

Our criminal justice system is just too flawed, especially if you are poor, let 
alone a poor person of color, to give the state power over life and death. 
Democratic voters have an opportunity to elect a president who unequivocally 
opposes the death penalty or one that will continue to "tinker with the 
machinery of death." I urge you to choose Bernie Sanders, don't "tinker with 
the machinery of death." Let's stop the machine instead.

(source: Anthony Johnson, marijuanapolitics.comn)