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

[Rick Halperin]

April 7



NORTH CAROLINA:

Victim's family: Buncombe murder suspect deserves death penalty


The man charged with killing a Barnardsville man last month deserves the death 
penalty, the victim's family said after a Thursday hearing in Buncombe County 
District Court.

Timothy Robert Gallion, 48, of Barnardsville, faces a 1st-degree murder charge 
and a 2nd-degree arson charge, according to the Buncombe County Sheriff's 
Office. He is accused of fatally shooting Bobby Ray Pegg II, who was found at 2 
p.m. March 23 inside his Barnardsville home in the 600 block of Dillingham 
Road. Gallion was arrested Wednesday afternoon by the sheriff's office.

Pegg had suffered a gunshot wound, authorities said. The sheriff's office did 
not rule the incident a homicide until the following day after evidence showed 
there had been foul play.

Pegg's friends and family described him as a loving person with no enemies. He 
had 3 children.

Pegg's former girlfriend and mother of his oldest child, Amber Coffey-Phillips, 
said he was a caring person.

"He had a giving nature and oftentimes would give the last of what he had to 
someone who needed it, even if doing so would cause him to go without," she 
said.

The Asheville-Buncombe Arson Task Force charged Gallion in connection to a fire 
March 22 at 456 Dillingham Road, which was the former home of Carson's Grocery 
& Services, according to arson investigator Breena Williams.

The Barnardsville Fire Department responded to the incident at 4:31 p.m. that 
day. When they got on scene it was considered a working fire. The building was 
a 60 % loss, Williams said.

Investigators determined "it was in an area that could not have started any 
other way than arson," Williams said. "It had to be set intentionally."

She could not go into detail on how authorities learned it was Gallion. The 
sheriff's office had not released any details about what led to his arrest by 
midday Thursday.

Pegg's mother, sister and niece sat in the front row of the courtroom Thursday 
for about 2 hours before Gallion appeared before a judge.

Buncombe County District Court Judge Jerry F. Waddell told Gallion that he has 
been charged with 2 serious crimes and could face the possibility of the death 
penalty or life in prison without parole if he is found guilty of 1st-degree 
murder.

If he is found guilty of 2nd-degree arson, he could face a maximum sentence in 
prison of 47 years, Waddell said.

Gallion said he could not afford an attorney and Waddell granted him a 
court-appointed attorney.

Buncombe County Assistant Public Defender Kerry Glasoe-Grant requested the 
capital defender's office be appointed to defend him, which Waddell approved.

Gallion's next court date was scheduled for April 23 in Buncombe County 
District Court. He will remain in custody at the Buncombe County Detention 
Facility in lieu of no bond.

After the court hearing, Pegg's sister Donna Summey said that Gallion deserves 
the death penalty and his mother agreed.

"He deserves the death penalty," said his mother Jeannette Pegg. "I won't 
settle for anything else."

Gallion and Pegg were friends, according to friends and family. But they said 
they did not know why Gallion would kill Pegg.

Gallion has several pending charges in Buncombe County, according to court 
records.

He has also been charged with felony possession of firearm by felon, driving 
without registration, driving with no inspection completed, concealing a gun 
after or while consuming alcohol, driving left of center and resisting public 
officers, records show.

He was scheduled to appear April 12 on those charges, according to court 
records.

A bill of indictment filed Tuesday with the U.S. District Court for the Western 
District of North Carolina states Gallion had a 12 gauge shotgun March 22 when 
he has previously been convicted of at least 1 crime punishable by a prison 
term exceeding 1 year. He had been convicted of discharging a firearm into 
occupied property.

The Grand Jury found probable cause that he was in possession of a shotgun and 
shotgun shells, according to a bill of indictment.

A criminal complaint was filed March 28 outlining events that occurred March 22 
involving Gallion.

Buncombe County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Trey McDonald received information March 
22 that Gallion was wanted on active warrants for communicating threats, an 
indictment states.

"Gallion had threatened to kill his family, law enforcement and himself," an 
indictment said.

He was later located on Whittemore Branch Road. A deputy turned his blue lights 
on and attempted to stop Gallion but he refused to stop his vehicle and show 
his hands. Two more deputies arrived on scene preventing Gallion from going 
anywhere, according to the court document.

Gallion attempted to backup, but McDonald put his vehicle in park and asked him 
to show both of his hands. As McDonald was speaking to Gallion, he noticed a 
pistol grip of a shotgun positioned beside Gallion's right leg, the indictment 
states.

The shotgun was then secured and Gallion was arrested. Authorities believed he 
was intoxicated and searched the vehicle finding 2 additional firearms and 
numerous rounds of ammunition.

He has also been convicted of 5 driving while impaired and several other 
charges dating back to 1986, according to state records.

In 2013, he was convicted of driving while impaired level 2 and 2 counts of 
aggravated driving while impaired level 1. He was convicted of driving while 
impaired level 2, discharging a firearm into occupied property and 
communicating threats in 2012.

He was convicted of driving while impaired level one, reckless driving and 
resisting a public officer in 2008. He was also convicted of misdemeanor 
breaking and entering and larceny in 1986.

He has spent about 3 years in prison for previous offenses, according to state 
records.

Pegg grew up in Barnardsville and attended North Buncombe High School in the 
1980s. Since then, he remained in the area working side jobs, mostly in 
construction.

Tennille Anderson met Pegg at North Buncombe High School and shortly after they 
began dating, she said. Their relationship didn't last past high school, but 
they remained close friends and kept in touch over the years.

Anderson was glad to hear an arrest was made in the investigation Wednesday.

"I'm happy that his family now has closure and that they can begin the grieving 
process," she said. "Bobby meant the world to a lot of people."

Pegg enjoyed practical jokes and making people laugh, Coffey-Phillips said. "He 
met most people with a huge smile, more often than not a joke.???

Coffey-Phillips was in a relationship with Pegg for more than a decade. Despite 
their romantic separation, they remained close friends.

"Bobby's death was a senseless and confusing act that I cannot seem to grasp," 
she said. "I cannot fathom anyone disliking him, especially enough to end his 
life in such a cold way."

"Bobby touched a lot of lives," she said. "He was a very special person, one 
you don't encounter every day."

Pegg had 2 daughters and a son.

(source: Citizen-Times)






GEORGIA:

Alleged gunman, 2 co-defendants plead not guilty in Savannah death penalty 
prosecutions


The alleged gunman and 2 co-defendants in an alleged gang-related slaying 
pleaded not guilty Thursday in their death penalty trials for the slaying of 
Dominique Powell last year in Tatemville.

Timothy Coleman Jr., 21, who prosecutors charge shot Powell on Sept. 12, Tyriek 
Walker, 21, and Artez Strain, 22, each entered pleas during separate 
appearances before Chatham County Superior Court Judge John E. Morse Jr.

Arraignment of a 4th defendant, alleged crime mastermind Arthur Newton, 23, has 
been postponed until a later date. He was disruptive in a December court 
appearance and apparently refused to come into open court on Monday during a 
hearing on media coverage of the case.

All 4 are charged with murder and related offenses in the shooting death of 
Powell, 24, in an apparent retaliatory slaying.

Prosecutors, headed by District Attorney Meg Heap and her assistant, Matt 
Breedon, contend the 4 were members of the nationally affiliated Bloods gang.

Charges included:

-- Coleman in a 20-count indictment that charges he shot and killed Powell 
while "associated with a criminal street gang, to wit: Bloods' in violation of 
the State Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act."

-- Walker in a 12-count indictment that charges him as a party to a crime 
that, at the request of Newton and Coleman, he provided Powell's address to 
Coleman and that Coleman shot Powell. He also is charged with being associated 
with the Bloods, "a criminal street gang."

-- Strain in a 12-count indictment as a party to the crime of murder by 
driving Coleman to the murder scene where he shot Powell as well as being 
associated with the Bloods, a criminal street gang.

Morse has scheduled subsequent events in the case. Defense attorneys for each 
defendant are expected to file in excess of 100 pre-trial motions in each case.

Because they are seeking the death penalty for each, the state Public Defender 
Council and its capital defenders, who specialize in such cases, are 
representing each. Also because the death penalty is involved, each defendant 
will have a separate trial and separate court appearance on all pre-trial 
matters.

In court documents filed in the case, Heap alleged that Newton directed another 
to commit Powell's slaying and that Coleman was the gunman. She also alleged 
that Coleman committed the murder of another "for the purpose of receiving 
money or any other thing of monetary value" and that he committed the murder as 
"an agent of another person."

Walker and Strain also were alleged to have committed the slaying to "receive 
money or any other thing of monetary value" as an agent of another person. 
Heap's document also alleged that in all 4 cases, "the offense of (Powell) was 
outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman, in that it involved 
depravity of mind."

Another defendant, Sharonte Williams, 27, who was identified as Newton's 
girlfriend, remains at large. She is charged with a non-death penalty offense 
and will be tried separately. And Antwan Drayton is indicted on an armed 
robbery/aggravated assault charge stemming from a Sept. 8 robbery of Powell for 
a wallet, cell phone and firearm - also a non-capital case to be tried 
separately.

The shooting

Police responded to a shooting Sept. 12 in the 900 block of Garey Avenue in 
Tatemville, where they found Powell suffering with a fatal gunshot wound 
outside a residence. Powell was the victim of an armed robbery on Sept. 8 in 
the neighborhood. During the robbery, Powell exchanged gunfire with would-be 
robbers Drayton and Newton, police said.

Investigators concluded that Powell shot Drayton and Newton in self-defense 
during the robbery. After being arrested, Newton ordered the death of Powell, 
Savannah-Chatham police Chief Joseph Lumpkin said.

Strain, Coleman and Walker carried out those orders and participated in 
Powell's death, Lumpkin said. According to the indictments, Coleman caused 
Powell's death by shooting him on Sept. 12. The indictments charge that Newton 
"did intentionally encourage and procure Coleman to commit the crime of malice 
murder by shooting Powell."

Newton also was indicted on a felony murder count by procuring Coleman to kill 
Powell by shooting him during an aggravated assault and while influencing a 
witness, both of which are felonies.

(source: savannahnow.com)

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

Georgia Conservatives Concerned About The Death Penalty


An influx of conservatives from across the country have been speaking out 
against the death penalty, and right-leaning groups have formed in more than a 
half dozen states with the purpose of ending capital punishment. Earlier this 
year, the Georgia Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty group 
launched at a press conference held at the State Capitol, and it was attended 
by a host of notable Georgia leaders, including a conservative state 
representative, a former Republican Party official, a free market think tank 
leader, and activists from across the state.

There were a wide variety of concerns discussed at the press conference, but 
they all tied into one central theme: the death penalty is inconsistent with 
conservative principles. In fact, Republican State Representative Brett Harrell 
declared, "I like to make sure that government is as efficient, effective, and 
small as possible," but when speaking about capital punishment, "the government 
has failed to provide an efficient, effective, accurate system."

Representative Harrell is correct on many counts, but most concerning is that 
our government has instituted a death penalty system that constantly risks 
innocent lives. Over 156 individuals have been wrongly convicted, sentenced to 
die, and later released from death rows across America. Meanwhile, this has 
occurred 6 times in Georgia, but others have been executed even though there 
were serious questions regarding their verdicts. Press conference participant 
and America's Future Foundation chapter leader, Jennifer Maffessanti, pointed 
out our judicial system's fallibility and firmly stated that "You had better be 
sure [individuals are guilty], but more importantly, you had better be right" 
because "there is no taking [an execution] back."

While issues related to life and innocence are often central to conservatives' 
opposition to the death penalty, cost also plays an undeniable role. During the 
press event, former Georgia Republican Party official, David Burge, explained 
that he was confronted by capital punishment's costly and cumbersome process 
when he worked as a law clerk for the 11th judicial circuit. He recounted how 
researching a single appeal from a life without parole case required about an 
afternoon's worth of work, whereas a capital appeal could easily consume a 
month and a half of his time. That's when he realized how expensive and complex 
the death penalty really was, and he has since concluded that capital 
punishment is a "waste of time, money, and effort."

(source: dailycaller.com)






FLORIDA:

Fact-checking a Florida senator's claim about Supreme Court and death penalty


Florida Sen. Randolph Bracy argues that Gov. Rick Scott overreached when he 
issued an order removing Orlando-area prosecutor Aramis D. Ayala from a 
high-profile prosecution of an accused cop killer after she said she would not 
pursue the death penalty in murder cases.

Bracy, an Orange County Democrat and chairman of the Florida Senate criminal 
justice committee, wrote in a New York Times op-ed that prosecutors have broad 
discretionary power.

"Although Ms. Ayala's critics have denounced her actions as dereliction of 
duty, they cannot point to a single law or statute that she has violated," he 
wrote in the April 4 op-ed. "That's because she hasn't. There are no federal or 
state laws that say prosecutors must seek death sentences. And the United 
States Supreme Court has banned all state laws that make executions mandatory 
for murders."

Legal experts told PolitiFact that Bracy is correct. Key court rulings about 
the death penalty forbid laws that force prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

Ayala, a Democrat elected as state attorney state attorney in Orlando and 
Osceola counties in 2016, announced in March that she would no longer seek the 
death penalty. Her decision came while handling the case of Markeith Loyd, who 
is accused of killing Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton amid a manhunt for Loyd 
after he allegedly killed his ex-girlfriend.

(source: Miami Herald)

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

Court throws out non-unanimous death sentence of man who set girlfriend on fire


Florida's Supreme Court on Thursday vacated the non-unanimous death sentence of 
an Orange County man convicted of killing his girlfriend by binding her wrists 
and setting her on fire.

Within a few hours, Gov. Rick Scott signed an executive order taking the case 
away from Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala, who has said she will not 
seek the death penalty for anyone during her tenure. The office of State 
Attorney Brad King, whose district includes Marion and Lake counties, will 
prosecute the case instead.

Dane Abdool's case is 1 of 10 non-unanimous death verdicts in Orange and 
Osceola counties now up for review after courts ruled that juries in death 
cases must be unanimous. It will return to local courts, where a new jury will 
likely have to decide whether he should live or die.

Eryka Washington, Ayala's spokeswoman, said Ayala's office received the 
executive order and had no further comment. On Monday, Washington said the 
governor "is abusing his authority and has compromised the independence and 
integrity of the criminal justice system" by reassigning 21 death-penalty cases 
to King.

Abdool's case and that of convicted killer Bessman Okafor were the only 2 
capital cases not transferred Monday, since they were both awaiting Florida 
Supreme Court decisions. Okafor's case is still pending in the state's highest 
court.

Abdool, who is now 30, was 19 when his 17-year-old girlfriend's remains were 
found on the side of a Winter Garden road in 2006. Amelia Sookdeo had been 
doused with gasoline, and her body was in the fetal position near County Road 
545.

Amelia and Abdool had dated on and off. They were broken up in 2006 when she 
told him she was pregnant - though, after her death a few weeks later, her 
autopsy determined that she was not.

On Feb. 25, 2006, Amelia left her home and went to meet Abdool in his 
apartment. They had sex and argued about her pregnancy. Then he agreed to drive 
her home, prosecutors said during his trial.

But instead of taking her home, Abdool stopped at a 7-Eleven and bought a red 
gas can and duct tape while Amelia waited in the car, prosecutors said.

He then drove to an empty area of Winter Garden, where he poured gasoline on 
her and watched her body burn before getting back into his car and driving 
away, according to a psychologist who testified at his trial.

2 years later, an Orange County jury recommended the death penalty for Abdool 
by a vote of 10-2. Since then, courts have ruled that non-unanimous verdicts in 
capital cases are unconstitutional, because they give too much power to judges 
and not enough to juries.

The Florida Supreme Court vacated Abdool's death sentence on those grounds 
Thursday, citing the 2016 case Hurst vs. Florida, in which the U.S. Supreme 
Court ruled Florida's death penalty proceedings unconstitutional because they 
did not require unanimous juries in the sentencing phase.

(source: Orlando Sentinel)






ALABAMA:

Overdue fix to judicial imbalance


Last week, Alabama was the last state in the U.S. whose laws empowered a judge 
to overrule a jury's sentencing verdict in a death penalty case. This week, it 
joined the rest of the country in taking that life-or-death decision out of the 
hands of one official, and capital punishment politics out of the sentencing 
process.

It's encouraging to note that legislative support in Montgomery for ending this 
archaic and morally dubious practice was not partisan, and not close. The bill 
sailed through the House on Tuesday by a 78-19 margin after near-unanimous 
(30-1) Senate approval in February. Gov. Robert Bentley, who is facing his own 
legal troubles of a different order, said after final House passage that he 
looked forward to signing it.

"It was a bad practice," Sen. Dick Brewbaker, R-Montgomery, the bill's chief 
sponsor, told the Montgomery Advertiser. "It showed a lack of confidence in 
Alabama juries, and I just think we came to the same conclusion of 49 other 
states. It just took longer."

Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, author of the House version, said the 
practice of judicial override "almost undermines the constitutional right to 
trial by a jury of your peers."

Even worse, to many of the law's critics, than the usurpation of jury authority 
to decide sentencing in capital cases was the possibility - in some cases, 
almost certainly, the likelihood - of politics hanging over the decision of 
whether a convicted criminal lived or died.

Records compiled by the Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative show that 
judges in Alabama have overruled jury sentencing recommendations 112 times. In 
11 of those cases, the judge changed a jury's recommendation of the death 
penalty to a life sentence. In the other 101, the judge changed a jury's 
recommendation of a life sentence to a sentence of execution. Brewbaker noted 
in Senate committee meetings on the bill that more than 1/2 of the overrides 
between 2005 and 2015 were in election years. "No matter how you feel about 
override philosophically, no one thinks sentencing should be affected by the 
election cycle," he told the Advertiser.

Current Alabama law requires the consent of at least 10 jurors for a jury to 
recommend a death sentence. England's original bill would have changed that to 
require a unanimous vote: "Why would it take a unanimous jury to convict but 
less than a unanimous jury to send someone to death?" England said in an al.com 
report. But the bill with that change lacked the votes for passage, and ending 
judicial override was the objective anyway.

"Judicial override is about to become a thing of the past, and Alabama's 
justice system will be better as a result," Kimble Forrister, executive 
director of Alabama Arise, said in a statement on the nonprofit's website. 
"It's time for our state to put the sentencing decisions in death penalty cases 
where they belong: in the jury's hands."

We agree. So, it's gratifying to see, do an overwhelming majority of Alabama 
lawmakers.

ledger-enquirer.com/opinion)

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

No rush to the death chamber


Among the laundry list of challenges facing Alabama lawmakers is one presented 
by controversy over execution methods. With the 4th-largest death row 
population in the nation, Alabama needs an effective way to dispense the death 
penalty.

Since the retirement of the state's electric chair, Yellow Mama, in 2002, state 
officials have struggled with lethal injection, which doesn't always work as 
expected. In other words, the condemned inmates don't always drift off to death 
as if falling asleep, instead retaining some level of consciousness and 
suffering in the process.

Beyond that, there have been shortages in availability of the drugs used in the 
execution cocktail, as drug manufacturers don't want the stigma of producing 
the components of capital punishment.

Lawmakers have been spit-balling ideas for several years, and have considered 
bringing back the electric chair or even instituting a firing squad.

Among the most recent notions is execution by nitrogen gas, a method in use by 
only one death penalty state, Oklahoma. Sen. Trip Pittman of Montrose, is 
sponsoring a bill that would establish that method in Alabama; it has already 
passed the Senate Judiciary Committee. Pittman's measure originally called for 
firing squad execution; he replaced that with nitrogen gas, which he calls "the 
most humane way of implementing that sentence."

That may well be the case. However, his colleagues are balking at the prospect, 
saying they don't know enough about the method.

That's a wise position. Oklahoma implemented the nitrogen gas execution method 
in April 2015, and has not conducted an execution since.

Alabama has 183 inmates on Death Row, but there's no reason to rush to the 
death chamber with a poorly researched and untested method of execution. The 
path from sentencing to execution routinely takes decades to navigate. Waiting 
for due diligence on a new execution method is well worth any additional delay.

(source: Editorial, Dothan Eagle)

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

Alabama Follows Oklahoma's Death Row Lead


An Alabama committee has passed a bill allowing death row inmates to be 
executed with nitrogen gas.

The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the measure 6-3 Wednesday.

Montrose Republican Sen. Trip Pittman says his bill would make Alabama the 2nd 
state in country behind Oklahoma to allow a person to be put to death with 
nitrogen.

Alabama currently gives death row inmates the choice between the electric chair 
and lethal injection. Pittman says using nitrogen would be more humane. An 
earlier version of his bill proposed firing squads executions.

Opponents argued against the death penalty and said they didn't know enough 
about using the gas for capital punishment.

Records show Alabama has the 4th largest death row population in the country 
with 183 prisoners.

The bill now moves to the Senate.

(source: Associated Press)


OHIO:

Court Blocks Ohio Execution Protocol----Decision allows death-row inmates to 
challenge use of midazolam at trial


A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked Ohio from using its 
lethal-injection protocol to execute 3 inmates, buoying a constitutional 
challenge to a drug used in at least 5 states.

The ruling by the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati pauses the 
state's application of the protocol while death-row inmates Ronald Phillips, 
Raymond Tibbetts and Gary Otte mount their challenge in a federal trial court.

A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked Ohio from using its 
lethal-injection protocol to execute 3 inmates, buoying a constitutional 
challenge to a drug used in at least 5 states.

The ruling by the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati pauses the 
state's application of the protocol while death-row inmates Ronald Phillips, 
Raymond Tibbetts and Gary Otte mount their challenge in a federal trial court.

A lower federal court in Dayton blocked Ohio's protocol in January, ruling that 
the inmates were likely to succeed in showing that the use of midazolam - the 
1st of 3 drugs - to render them unconscious could cause them to suffer, in 
violation of the Eighth Amendment. If the drug doesn't work, they would be 
awake for the 2nd and 3rd drugs, which stop the heart.

The state appealed. Judge Karen Nelson Moore, writing for the 2-1 majority of 
the Sixth Circuit, said the lower court hadn't clearly erred in the January 
ruling. She credited the testimony of experts for the inmates who said 
midazolam is used to sedate patients, but that it can't produce a state of 
general anesthesia or unconsciousness.

Ohio's experts testified that midazolam is sufficient to render a person 
unconscious at high enough doses.

Lawyers for the 3 inmates didn't respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman 
for Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said the office is reviewing the 
decision.

The case could loom large in last-ditch efforts by lawyers for 8 death-row 
inmates scheduled to be executed this month in Arkansas, which also uses 
midazolam in its protocol. Alabama, Oklahoma and Virginia also use the drug, 
but Arizona and Florida recently announced that they were abandoning it, said 
Megan McCracken, a lawyer for the Death Penalty Clinic at U.C. Berkeley School 
of Law.

Midazolam has faced increasing scrutiny after the 2014 execution of Clayton 
Lockett, who initially appeared to lose consciousness after receiving a 
100-milligram injection of the drug but then began to writhe and moan. He died 
40 minutes later of a heart attack, after officials had halted the procedure.

Witnesses described similar events at the 2014 execution of Dennis McGuire in 
Ohio and in 2 more-recent executions in Alabama, even though the Alabama 
inmates were given higher doses of midazolam.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to invalidate Oklahoma's lethal-injection 
procedures, which are similar to Ohio's, in a 2015 case, ruling that challenges 
to methods of execution must show they present a high risk of causing serious 
pain and suffering compared with a "known and available alternative."

In the past, executioners would typically use thiopental and pentobarbital, 
which belong to a class of drugs known as barbiturates. But makers of the 
drugs, under pressure from death-penalty abolitionists, cut back their 
availability for executions.

Lawyers for the Ohio inmates have said the state could obtain compounded 
pentobarbital as an alternative.

Judge Raymond Kethledge, writing in dissent, highlighted the crimes of the 3 
inmates. Mr. Phillips raped and beat to death a 3-year-old girl, while Mr. Otte 
robbed and murdered a man and a woman, and Mr. Tibbetts killed an elderly man 
and his caretaker.

The judge said the lower court and the majority should have held the inmates to 
a higher standard of showing that the protocol was "sure or very likely" to 
cause serious pain.

(source: Wall Street Journal)