[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO, NEB., NEV., CALIF.

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 5




TEXAS:

For 1st time in more than 30 years, no Harris County death row inmates executed



For the 1st time since 1985, no Harris County killers will be executed by the 
state of Texas this year, a landmark shift for a county once known as the 
"capital of capital punishment."

Despite a slight uptick in executions nationwide, Harris County's 1 execution 
this year was cancelled after a desperate death row plot led to a last-minute 
stay for serial killer Anthony Shore in October. 2 U.S. Supreme Court rulings 
spared 2 other inmates.

"This has been an important year in terms of death penalty litigation," said 
District Attorney Kim Ogg. "I view it as a positive thing. I don't think that 
being the death penalty capital of America is a selling point for Harris 
County."

Nationwide, executions reached a high water mark in 1999, and Texas executions 
topped out at 40 the next year. But it's Harris County courts that have kept 
the death chamber busiest, with 126 executions since the state resumed capital 
punishment in 1982.

"Harris County has always symbolized America's death penalty because it has 
executed more people than any other county and - apart from the rest of Texas - 
more than any other state," said Robert Dunham of the Death Penalty Information 
Center. "It is both symbolic and emblematic of the change in capital punishment 
in the United States. For the 1st time in a generation, the nation's largest 
executioner has executed no one."

In part, that's due to the long-range impact of the Lone Star State's 
introduction of life without parole as a sentencing option starting in 2005. 
Before that, jurors on capital murder cases had to pick between death and the 
possibility of eventual release.

But it's also due to the more immediate impacts of court actions this year. In 
October, death row inmate Duane Buck was given a life sentence after the 
Supreme Court granted him a new hearing in light of testimony from an expert 
who told the jury that Buck was more likely to be a future danger because he is 
black.

Then in November, Harris County prosecutors asked for a life sentence for Bobby 
Moore, months after the Supreme Court determined that Texas did not properly 
consider whether he was too intellectually disabled to face execution.

Falling murder rates and changing political tides have also contributed to the 
decline in capital punishment.

"Perhaps the most important change is that the public is substantially less 
supportive of the death penalty than it has been at any time since 1972," 
Dunham said, citing a recent Gallup poll. The research group's October findings 
showed that 55 % of U.S. adults support capital punishment for convicted 
murderers, a low not seen since March 1972.

Outspoken death penalty supporter Dudley Sharp blamed the drop on the length of 
time between sentencing and execution.

"At this point it's more than doubled since the 1980s, which would dramatically 
lower the execution rate," Sharp said.

Even without Harris County, Texas regained its spot this year as the busiest 
death chamber in the nation with seven executions. Nationwide, 23 prisoners 
were put to death - 3 more than the year before - amid an otherwise downward 
trend.

A generation ago, it was a different story.

A year before Karla Faye Tucker's execution grabbed national headlines amid the 
tough-on-crime efforts of the 1990s, Harris County saw 11 killers in 1997 
executed. Tucker, the 1st woman executed in Texas since the 1800s, was 
convicted of a brutal pickaxe slaying; she blamed the killing on drugs.

The next execution in Texas is Jan. 18, when "Tourniquet Killer" Anthony Shore 
is slated to die by lethal injection.

Shore's execution on Oct. 18 was halted at the last minute after he told 
investigators of an abandoned confession plot with fellow death row inmate 
Larry Swearingen, a Montgomery County killer whose execution was also delayed.

A handful of other Harris County killers who are nearing the end of their 
appeals process could potentially net 2018 execution dates, including Carlos 
Ayestas, a Honduran man convicted in a 1995 slaying. The court heard oral 
arguments in the case in October and is expected to offer a decision next year.

No new death sentences, however, were imposed in Harris County this year - 
Ogg's 1st to helm the district attorney's office.

"I think it reflects both the new administration and the new skepticism about 
the death penalty and life without parole all combined with a dash of Harvey," 
said local defense attorney Pat McCann. "And then of course there's the simply 
bizarre continuing tale of Mr. Shore and Mr. Swearingen and the frankly 
inexplicable turn of events there."

Next year could be different, however.

"When you have an historic low one year it's not surprising to see the numbers 
rise slightly the following year," Dunham said.

Death row exoneree Anthony Graves lauded local prosecutors for their role in 
the shifting tides.

"Kudos to the administration for being out front on criminal justice reform," 
he said. "Because this is what it is, this is what it looks like."

(source: Houston Chronicle)

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

Judge issues gag order in Riggs capital murder case, grants pre-trial defense 
motions



35th District Judge Steve Ellis has issued a gag order in the Ryan Riggs 
capital murder case and granted several pre-trial motions the attorney for the 
21-year-old capital murder defendant has filed.

Those motions deal with topics ranging from a court clothing allowance for 
Riggs to modifying conditions of the defense team's jailhouse visits with 
Riggs.

The gag order heavily restricts the comments members of law enforcement, 
attorneys and family members of Riggs and murder victim Chantay Blankinship can 
made to the media. Ellis wrote in the order that its intent is to ensure a fair 
trial.

Ellis earlier appointed John Wright of Lubbock, regional public defender for 
capital cases, as Riggs' attorney. Wright has asserted in pre-trial motions 
that the state is seeking the death penalty and that Riggs, who is charged in 
the May 13, 2016 murder of Blankinship, "is therefore literally fighting for 
his life."

District Attorney Micheal Murray has given no indication to the court whether 
the state will seek the death penalty against Riggs.

Sheriff Vance Hill, answering a question from commissioners during the 
commissioners court meeting Monday morning, said Murray "has not decided if 
he's going to seek the death penalty at this point. We're still checking on 
several things during the course of the investigation. There are a lot of 
contributing factors that go into that."

Wright has also filed a waiver of arraignment on behalf of Riggs, meaning he 
will not appear in court on Dec. 11 as previously scheduled.

In response to one of Wright's motions, Ellis signed a court order last week 
directing any jail visitation between Riggs and the defense team, including 
experts working for the defense, be private and not recorded. Ellis also 
ordered that the sheriff's office "may not use any means to monitor or record 
the audio portion of these visitations."

Ellis further ordered that Riggs will not be shackled or handcuffed while 
visiting with the defense team or experts working for the defense.

Wright requested in his motion that Riggs be permitted "private, unrecorded and 
unmonitored unshackled and un-handcuffed contact visitation" with the defense 
and experts.

Defense team members previously met with Riggs in the jail "in a separate room 
in which 2 video cameras are readily visible. Mr. Riggs is required to remain 
seated on a metal stool."

In another motion, Wright sought, and received, a $500 clothing allowance for 4 
shirts, 3 pants and a belt for Riggs to wear when he appears in pre-trial 
hearings and in a trial that is expected to last up to 3 weeks.

In the commissioners court meeting Monday morning, commissioners approved a 
$3,600 payment to Parabon NanoLabs of Reston, Va., the company that created a 
drawing of what the suspect in the Blankinship murder might look like based on 
DNA. Sheriff's officials have said Riggs confessed shortly after the drawing 
was made public.

The sheriff's office and district attorney's office have agreed to split the 
cost using drug seizure money from their offices, Hill told commissioners. The 
question about the death penalty came up as commissioners approved the action.

Riggs remains jailed on 2 charges - capital murder, with bond denied, and an 
unrelated illegal dumping case.

(source: Brownwood Bulletin)

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

Maslon gets inmate off Texas death row



Witness by witness, statement by statement, inkling by inkling, a pro bono team 
at Maslon put together a habeas corpus case that got its client off death row 
in a Texas prison.

Douglas Tyrone Armstrong was not exonerated of a murder he says he didn't 
commit, but he will get a new punishment hearing and will be removed from death 
row, where he has been in solitary confinement for all but 10 hours per week 
for 10 years. He was represented by Maslon's pro bono committee chair Julian 
Zebot, Catherine Ahlin-Halverson, Michael McCarthy and Nicole Narotzky. Many 
others were involved in the case during the 11 years the firm worked on the 
case.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, in a 5-4 opinion, determined that 
Armstrong's defense counsel failed to conduct a constitutionally adequate 
investigation of mitigating evidence. The lower court also found that the 
defense failed to investigate, but that Armstrong was not prejudiced thereby.

The team has brought other habeas issues that are yet to be resolved, including 
Armstrong's claim of actual innocence.

"Tyrone has consistently proclaimed his innocence," Zebot said. His trial 
lawyers were ineffective at the culpability phase as well as the punishment 
phase - "essentially he didn???t get much of a defense at all."

He added, "We are going to fight for the client's complete exoneration."

The eyewitness testimony changed several times during the process, shifting in 
a direction unfavorable to Armstrong, he said. Additionally, the physical 
evidence doesn't match up to the rest of the evidence, he said.

Wiggins standard

The Texas court relied on Wiggins v. Smith, a 2003 Supreme Court opinion where 
the court said that the standard of review is whether counsel's investigation 
was reasonable under prevailing professional norms, including a 
context-dependent consideration of the challenged conduct as seen from 
counsel's perspective at the time. It's unusual for a court to grant relief 
under Wiggins, Zebot said.

Maslon lawyers dug deeply into Armstrong's history and presented additional 
evidence of his disadvantaged background and entirely new expert testimony with 
respect to his mental state at the time of the offense, not evidence that was 
essentially more of the same character of evidence presented at trial. A 
Wiggins claim is not barred by the presentation of some mitigating evidence by 
the trial counsel, if the habeas counsel provided new evidence that 
demonstrated a reasonable probability that at least one juror would have held 
out against the death penalty, the court said.

The most compelling evidence to the Texas court appeared to be the new mental 
health evidence, and it relied primarily on that to conclude that there was a 
reasonable probability of a different outcome had that evidence been available.

But to get to that expert testimony, the lawyers needed to develop more lay 
testimony, mostly from Armstrong's family. They interviewed witnesses and were 
assisted by a mitigation investigator. They looked for school and medical 
efforts but most of them had been destroyed.

"The family was so brave in sharing their stories. They were willing to offer 
this really traumatic history to the experts and the court," Ahlin-Halverson 
said. "You're asking people to share extraordinarily painful personal history."

"You could hear a pin drop when the family was testifying. It was absolutely 
riveting," she said.

The lawyers and investigators worked to establish trust over time, 
Ahlin-Halverson continued. "The 1st time we met with the family members we 
didn't learn everything. Every time we spoke with them we got a deeper and more 
comprehensive understanding.

"To me, the most important thing we did was stick with them, and be where we 
said we would be so they could learn to trust us."

Critical to the success of the case is the strong internal team at Maslon.

"We had so many attorneys, paralegals and staff running around in different 
directions, gathering affidavits. The case was going to rise or fall on the 
strength of the people working on it," Zebot said.

"It demonstrates Maslon's commitment to pro bono. We literally spent thousands 
of hours," Zebot said. It was also a significant financial commitment, he 
added.

History of abuse

The family member's testimony included accounts of physical abuse endured by 
all the children, including Armstrong. Armstrong was frequently locked in an 
empty room for days at a time, with no food or access to a bathroom. The 
parents were alcoholics and both beat the children with some kind of tool. 
Armstrong was beaten in the head.

His siblings also learned to physically abuse him. Armstrong and his sister 
were the only siblings who had the same father, and he raped the sister, 
resulting in a pregnancy. There were other instances of sexual abuse in the 
family. Additionally, the parents spent all their resources on alcohol and 
never bought food for the children. The family moved constantly because the 
parents did not pay their rent. Armstrong was introduced to alcohol by his 
brother at the age of 5.

Neuropsych evaluation key

The experts were Dr. Phillip D. Harvey, a clinical psychologist in the field of 
study and diagnosis of cognitive impairment; and Dr. Robert Lee Smith, a 
forensic psychologist and addiction specialist.

Harvey's neuropsychological evidence was the "linchpin" of the court's opinion, 
Ahlin-Halverson said. His diagnosis was borderline intellectual functioning and 
acquired dementia. The dementia was likely caused by substance abuse, repeated 
traumatic brain injury and extreme life stress, he said. Those symptoms were 
fully formed by the time of the murder for which Armstrong was convicted.

Smith diagnosed Armstrong with dysthymic disorder (long-standing depression), 
substance dependence and personality disorder-not otherwise specified. He 
attributed the dysthymia to environmental factors in Armstrong's past.

The absence of psychological evidence was prejudicial, the court determined. 
The court could not determine that the state's evidence would clearly outweigh 
the totality of the mitigation evidence, the court concluded.

Armstrong is incredibly grateful to his lawyers, Ahlin-Halverson said. He 
speaks of his love for his family often, she said.

At some hearings the judge has allowed Armstrong to greet and hug (unshackled) 
each of his family members, including his son. "That really brings it home, 
what he's been through," Zebot said.

"You'd have to have a heart of stone not to be moved," Ahlin-Halverson said.

(source: Minnesota Lawyer)








FLORIDA:

Death Sentence Commuted to Life For William Gregory, Double-Murderer of Flagler 
Beach



The murders happened on August 21, 2007, at a house on John Anderson Highway in 
Flagler Beach. William Gregory, 24 at the time, walked in on his ex-girlfriend 
Skyler Dawn Meekings, 17, and her boyfriend of 2 months, Daniel Arthur Dyer, 
22, as they slept together, and shot them both at close range with a shotgun. A 
1-year-old child Gregory had with Meekins was sleeping in a bedroom nearby.

He was tried, found guilty, and in 2011, sentenced to death in the culmination 
of a case that had drawn such notoriety locally that it was moved to Volusia 
County. It eas tried before Circuit Judge William A. Parsons.

But the jury's recommendation for death in 2011 was by the slimmest possible 
margin of 7-5, back when Florida was 1 of just 2 states that still allowed 
death sentences to be imposed after less than a unanimous jury verdict. That 
changed less than 2 years ago, when U.S. Supreme Court and Florida Supreme 
Court decisions found Florida's method of sentencing defendants to death 
unconstitutional.

Recommendations must now be unanimous. In Gregory's case, the Supreme Court in 
August threw out his death sentence and returned the case to circuit court in 
Flagler County for a new sentencing phase.

That would have meant an elaborate process, similar to a trial, involving 
pre-trial hearings, the impaneling of a jury, the questioning of witnesses at a 
sentencing hearing and jury deliberations. In other words it would have meant 
bringing back Meekins's family to relive those events again.

It would have also raised other procedural issues Gregory's attorney raised in 
2016, claiming there would have been grounds for a mistrial in the original 
case.

Monday morning, Circuit Court Judge Dennis Craig commuted Gregory's death 
sentence to life in prison without parole on both counts.

"We looked at the case and and consulted with the family," Assistant State 
Attorney Jason lewis said. "They did not want to go through the process again." 
So the prosecution agreed to a commutation in what amounted to a hearing 
lasting all of 5 minutes. Gregory had been brought in from his death row cell 
at the state prison near Raiford.

"We'd have to basically do a whole new penalty phase," Lewis said, "and we take 
the family's wishes very seriously. That's what they wanted."

The families' positions were no mystery, as Daniel Dyer's big sister had 
expressed it in her statement to the court before the 2011 sentencing: "The 
worst thing about Dan's death," she wrote, "is the way he died. He didn't die 
in an accident or a health condition. He was murdered by a cowardly little 
twit. He was such a coward that instead of confronting Dan, like a real man, he 
crept in the dark into Skyler's room, and shot them both in the head while they 
were asleep. The wounds were so horrible that we couldn't even have an open 
casket for Dan so we could see him one last time."

She had asked for the death penalty. "He had the right to a judge and jury," 
she'd written, 'but what about Dan and Skyler's rights? They had no judge, no 
jury, only a 12-gauge shotgun to the head while they slept." Using Gregory's 
nickname, she went on: "And what has Billy done this entire time? He shows no 
remorse, no sorrow, he just sits there, so arrogant, that somehow he thought he 
ws smart enough to get away with it, that he had the right to play God and kill 
2 innocent people. Foe what? The simple fact that Skyler had left him for a 
real man."

The families of the victims were not in court this morning. But Skyler's aunt 
Deborah Meekins had written the court 6 years ago that while she had never been 
much for the death penalty, "what I do know - Billy is all for it. Billy 
sentenced Skyler and Dan to the death penalty, right there, that night, as they 
slept together alone for the 1st time."

Skyler's father, Hap Meekins, had written of his daughter in 2011: "Skyler was 
very talented. A straight-A student with ambition. But the thing that I 
remember the most was her dedication toward anything she did. Being the 
youngest of 3 girls did not matter. Like the summer she spent fishing on the 
Pier. The 3 girls would spend hours fishing for King Fish. She caught a 30-lb. 
King Fish which didn't go over well with her sisters. She never minded getting 
her hands dirty whether it was fishing, playing soccer, or helping me with the 
garden. She was very unselfish; she would help me [with] anything I asked." And 
he'd concluded: "My memories will keep me going for the rest of my life. I love 
you Skyler always and forever. No one can take that away."

(source: flaglerlive.com)

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

Rick Scott continues death penalty fight with Ayala----Scott gives 
Orange/Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala's office until Dec. 11 to provide 
answers about seeking the death penalty in the Emerita Mapp case.



Gov. Rick Scott's office demanded that Orange/Osceola State Attorney Aramis 
Ayala provide a series of answers about the pursuit of the death penalty in a 
case involving an April murder in Kissimmee.

In a Monday letter, Scott's general counsel said Ayala failed to "file a timely 
notice of intent" to seek the death penalty against Emerita Mapp, who had been 
charged with 1st-degree murder in the stabbing death of Zackery Ganoe.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that a notice to seek the death penalty was filed 
by Ayala's office in October after a panel of seven attorneys in her office 
recommended the death penalty.

Ayala's decision to form the panel came after the Florida Supreme Court ruled 
that Ayala was wrong in refusing to pursue the death penalty. After the 
verdict, Ayala said she would comply with the ruling.

But Scott's general counsel, Daniel Nordby, insisted in a 3-page letter to 
Ayala on Monday that she her office had failed to file notice of intent to seek 
the death penalty against Mapp.

"As you should have been aware, Florida law required a notice of intent to seek 
the death penalty to be filed within 45 days from the date of Mapp's 
arraignment," Nordby said. "Inexplicably, the notice was not filed until Oct. 
31, 2017 - well beyond the 45-day deadline and more than 35 days after you 
acknowledged your 'responsibility to follow the law.' on Sept. 1."

Nordby charges that Ayala knew the deadline had lapsed, but "knowingly" filed 
the notice.

"This suggests negligence - and, at worst, willful disregard - in the faithful 
performance of the duties of your constitutional office."

He outlined several steps her office needed to take before Dec. 11, including:

-- The procedures of the death penalty review panel, the number of cases 
reviewed and the number of cases that have resulted in an unanimous decision to 
seek the death penalty;

-- The date on which the panel unanimously recommended the death penalty in 
the case against Emerita Mapp and the date State Attorney Ayala accepted that 
recommendation; and

-- Explanation of State Attorney Ayala's decision to refuse State Attorney 
King's offer of assistance in developing a procedure to review cases for death 
penalty consideration.

Eryka Washington, a spokeswoman for Ayala's office, said Scott's letter was 
received Monday afternoon. She said a comment will be forthcoming once it is 
reviewed.

(source: Tampa Bay Times)








ALABAMA:

Trial for man facing death penalty delayed



Michael Allen Tharp didn't go on trial Monday as scheduled for allegedly 
killing his step-father. Instead, his capital murder case was continued until 
at least 2018. The reason for the delay isn't immediately known.

Tharp was arrested for the December 2012 death of 68-year old Joseph Bernard 
Hendley, found shot to death in his Cowarts home. Prosecutors say robbery was 
the motive.

Defense attorneys argued Tharp, who is from Houston County, was not mentally 
competent to stand trial but after a hearing last month where an expert 
testified Houston County Circuit Judge Kevin Moulton ruled he is competent. If 
convicted, Tharp could be sentenced to death.

Court records, as of Monday, didn't reveal why the continuance was requested. A 
new trial date will be set later.

(source: WTVY news)

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

Supreme Court Declines Death Penalty Case Involving Jury Selection



The Supreme Court won't take up a death penalty case from Alabama in which 
attorneys said African-American jurors were improperly excluded from the jury.

The justices said Monday they would not take the case of Christopher Floyd. 
Floyd's attorneys have said that the prosecutor in the case marked potential 
African-American jurors with a "B" to indicate their race on the jury list and 
could not give a reason for excluding at least 1 of the African-Americans he'd 
objected to from the jury.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a brief statement agreeing with the decision not 
to take up the case. She said the manner in which the jury was selected "raises 
serious concerns." But she said the "unusual posture" in which the claims were 
raised made it unsuitable for review.

(source: Associated Press)








OHIO:

Man challenges death sentence, says actual killer given life



A condemned Ohio killer is challenging his death sentence on the grounds that 
the man who fatally stabbed the victim received a life sentence.

Austin Myers was sentenced to die for the 2014 killing in southwestern Ohio of 
childhood friend Justin Back, who was about to enter the Navy.

Authorities say the 18-year-old Back was killed during a burglary and his body 
dumped in a rural area.

Attorneys for Myers plan to argue before the Ohio Supreme Court Tuesday that 
his death sentence is disproportionate because of the life sentence given to 
co-defendant Tim Mosley.

Records show the 22-year-old Myers held Back while Mosley stabbed him.

Prosecutors say the case against each man must be addressed individually. They 
also say there's overwhelming evidence of Myers' role in planning the killing.

(source: Associated Press)

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

Warren County murder case: Wife doesn't want jury trial



The wife of a South Lebanon man facing the death penalty is scheduled for a 
one-day trial in January on lesser charges stemming from the same violent 
incident.

This morning, Jacqueline Kirby, 31, waived her right to a jury trial and agreed 
to a 1-day "bench trial" before Judge Donald Oda II on Jan. 29 in Warren County 
Common Pleas Court.

She is charged with tampering with evidence, receiving stolen property and 
misuse of credit cards in the case.

Facing the death penalty is Christopher Kirby, 38, held on charges of 
aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, murder, attempted murder, felonious 
assault, grand theft and tampering with evidence in connection with the beating 
death of his sister and severe beating of her husband.

His adoptive sister, Debrah Power, 63, of South Lebanon, was pronounced dead 
from head injuries Sept. 15 at her home in South Lebanon. Her husband, Ronnie 
Power, was badly beaten in the attack and remains in serious condition, 
according to authorities.

The 4 people involved in the case shared a house in South Lebanon. "Jacqueline 
stated during her interview, they used Mr. Power's cell phone to contact drug 
dealers. She said they were trying to sell a television they'd taken from the 
residence," an investigator alleged in a search-warrant affidavit.

The tampering with evidence charges stem from the Kirbys' alleged disposal of 
the cell phone and Debra Power's purse on Interstate 75, where they were 
arrested.

Christopher Kirby remained in the county jail without bond. Jacqueline Kirby's 
bond has been reduced from $250,000 to $20,000, but she also remained in jail 
while her lawyer, Tamara Sack, worked on a place for her to stay upon her 
release.

(source: Dayton Daily News)

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

Ohio Supreme Court to hear local man's death penalty appeal



On Tuesday, the Ohio Supreme Court is to preside over a legal debate over 
whether the death penalty should be executed on a young Clayton man - the 2nd 
youngest on Ohio's death row - for the murder of an even younger Warren County 
man at his home outside Waynesville in January 2014, according to the 
Journal-News.

Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell will personally argue for the state to 
continue forward toward the execution of Austin Myers, now 22, of Clayton, 
although another Clayton man, Timothy Mosley - like Myers 19 years old at the 
time - actually stabbed to death Justin Back, 18, a 2013 Waynesville High 
School graduate about to enter the U.S. Navy.

"Austin Myers killed Justin. Tim was his weapon of choice," Fornshell said last 
week, quoting Back's stepfather, Mark Cates, a local prison guard.

It will be Fornshell's 1st appearance before the high court on behalf of Warren 
County.

Lawyers appointed to appeal Myers' death sentence have identified 18 violations 
of law they claim should convince the state's high court to set aside his death 
sentence, including his age and the lesser sentence - life in prison without 
parole - Mosley received in exchange for his testimony.

3 years later, Myers is still the 2nd youngest of 140 Ohio prisoners facing the 
death penalty. Damantae Graham, 20, convicted of killing a Kent State 
University student, is the only one younger.

Myers' lawyers also claim errors or misconduct by the judge, prosecutors and 
defense lawyers in the case, decided more than 3 years ago in Warren County 
Common Pleas Court, should convince the high court, including appointed Judge 
Cynthia Westcott Rice of Ohio's 11th District Court of Appeals, to spare his 
life.

"Mr. Myers's rights under the Constitution of the United States and the Ohio 
Constitution were violated and he was denied a fair trial and sentencing 
proceeding. Accordingly, this Court should reverse and discharge the defendant 
or grant a new trial. In the alternative, this Court should vacate the death 
sentence, remand for a resentencing hearing, and order the life sentence 
imposed," lawyer Timothy McKenna said in his brief to the high court.

(source: WCPO news)




NEBRASKA:

Lawsuit says governor exceeded powers on death penalty



A lawsuit says the 11 men on Nebraska's death row can't be executed because 
their death sentences were converted to life in prison when the death penalty 
was repealed in 2015.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska filed the complaint early 
Monday, naming Gov. Pete Ricketts and several other officials. The lawsuit 
seeks a court order barring the state from carrying out any executions.

After lawmakers abolished the death penalty, they overrode Ricketts' veto. 
Death penalty supporters responded with a ballot petition drive partially 
financed by Ricketts. Voters overturned the Legislature's decision and restored 
the punishment in November 2016.

The ACLU says Ricketts overstepped the Nebraska Constitution's separation of 
powers clause because he funded and controlled the petition drive.

(source: Associated Press)








NEVADA:

Jury begins death penalty discussion for convicted killer Bryan Clay



The convicted killer of a Las Vegas mother and her daughter asked jurors to 
spare his life.

Bryan Clay, 27, became emotional when he took the stand Monday in the penalty 
phase of his trial at the Regional Justice Center.

Prosecutors say he deserves to die for raping and murdering Yadira Martinez and 
her 10-year-old daughter, Karla, in April 2012.

"I've heard God's forgiveness is limitless," Clay told jurors. "I hope he can 
forgive me."

Clay took a moment to thank his attorneys, the prosecution and even the jurors 
who found him guilty.

"I don't know how to express my remorse; I can only express love," he said. 
"And know these actions have caused so much pain."

But while he was on the stand with a prepared statement, Clay quickly went off 
script, with emotion taking over.

"Just to sit for 6 years and think about something you don't remember doing, I 
went crazy," he said. "First thing I tried to do in jail was kill myself."

Clay reiterated that he didn't remember breaking into the Martinez home in the 
middle of the night and committing the heinous attacks, attacking the victims 
in their beds. He says the Martinez family is in his prayers.

It's for another little girl, however, why he wants to live ' his 5-year-old 
daughter, Nicole.

The jury was shown video and pictures of the child Clay calls his pride and 
joy.

"If not for my attorneys and daughter, I'd be begging you for death," Clay 
said. 'But I don't want that for myself. I don't want my attorneys to have to 
sit through it. I don't want anybody else to sit through it."

Prosecutors say Clay deserves the ultimate punishment, stating that what 
happened to his victims was not an impulsive act, but a crime that took hours 
to commit.

Clay's lawyers said the death penalty is nothing more than revenge.

The jury began deliberations Monday night and ended around 5:30 p.m. They will 
resume at noon Tuesday.

(source: news3lv.com)








CALIFORNIA:

Cop killer on death row found guilty of 1995 Blythe murder



A cop killer who gunned down a Blythe store clerk during a 24-hour 2-state 
crime spree was convicted Monday of 1st-degree murder and other charges, making 
him eligible for a 2nd death sentence.

A Riverside jury deliberated 3 days before finding Ernesto Salgado Martinez 
guilty of the slaying of 43-year-old Randip Singh, using a handgun that 
belonged to a highway patrolman, whom the defendant shot dead the same day.

Along with the murder count, jurors found true special circumstance allegations 
of killing during a robbery and taking multiple lives. However, the panel 
acquitted Martinez of attempted murder in connection with a knife attack on a 
fellow jail inmate years later.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Charles Koosed scheduled the penalty 
phase of Martinez's trial to begin on Feb. 7 at the Riverside Hall of Justice. 
He faces either life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death 
penalty.

Martinez, who is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center 
in Riverside, has been sentenced to death in Arizona for the 1995 slaying of 
Department of Public Safety Officer Robert K. Martin.

Martinez was on parole in late July 1995 when he stole a Chevrolet Monte Carlo 
in Indio and went to Arizona to look for family members, who had left 
California before his release from state prison.

Martinez drove through Arizona for several weeks, ending up northeast of 
Phoenix, traveling the Beeline (87) Highway between Payson and Scottsdale.

In the early afternoon of Aug. 15, 1995, Martinez went south on the Beeline 
Highway, en route to Phoenix, and began driving erratically, plowing through 
construction zones in excess of 80 mph, according to testimony from his Arizona 
trial in 1997.

As he approached Shea Boulevard, Martinez's reckless driving caught the 
attention of Martin, who was conducting speed enforcement along the highway. 
The 57-year-old patrolman pulled Martinez over on the shoulder of the highway.

A couple, Steve and Susan Bell, happened to drive by as Martin walked to the 
driver's side of the Chevrolet with his citation book in hand.

Less than a minute later, the Monte Carlo overtook them on the highway, and a 
couple of minutes after that, they saw 2 DPS patrol cars racing north on the 
highway, in the direction of where the traffic stop had occurred.

The witnesses then happened upon the Monte Carlo stuck in traffic due to road 
work and took down the plate information after getting a look at Martinez -- 
details that proved pivotal in convicting him.

Martin was shot 4 times, and his 9mm handgun was stolen, snatched by Martinez.

Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Chris Cook wrote in a trial brief 
that, shortly before 8 p.m. that day, Martinez reached Blythe, going into the 
Day N' Nite Mini Mart at 200 E. Hobson Way. The prosecutor said Martinez 
approached Singh, pulled out the 9mm handgun and shot the victim twice, 
inflicting a fatal wound to the chest.

The parolee then grabbed cash from the register and fled the location, 
according to the prosecutor.

By the following day, California law enforcement agencies had been alerted to 
the Arizona murder, as well as the vehicle involved. According to Cook, late in 
the morning of Aug. 16, 1995, an Indio police officer spotted the car on Forest 
Drive and called for backup.

Officers followed the Monte Carlo to 80-705 Indio Blvd., where Martinez dropped 
a cousin, the cousin's wife and their child at a friend's house, Cook said. He 
said that when Martinez saw the police cars nearby, he ran inside the house, 
causing the other occupants to flee.

Martinez dumped the .38-caliber revolver he'd used to kill Martin in the home, 
as well as the officer's 9mm pistol, then barricaded himself inside.

Following a three-hour standoff, during which Martinez insisted that police 
would never take him alive, he surrendered.

In December 2013, while awaiting trial and housed at the Robert Presley 
Detention Center, Martinez allegedly tried to kill a fellow inmate, Leroy 
Gutierrez, stabbing him 40 times with a homemade knife. Gutierrez survived the 
attack.

(source: kesq.com)

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

Man Convicted in Boy's Torture Death 'Compassionate, Kind': Co-Workers 
Testify----Prosecutors say the boyfriend of the victim's mother beat the boy 
because he thought he was gay



1-time co-workers of a Palmdale man convicted of the torture-murder of his 
girlfriend's 8-year-old son testified Monday that the man they knew was 
compassionate, kind and worth saving rather than condemned to death.

"He was extremely kind and sensitive and careful," Sherline Miller told the 
7-woman, 5-man jury that convicted Isauro Aguirre, a 37-year-old former 
security guard, of first-degree murder on Nov. 15 for the death of Gabriel 
Fernandez.

Jurors also found true the special circumstance allegation of murder involving 
the infliction of torture, making Aguirre eligible for capital punishment. The 
boy's 34-year-old mother, Pearl Sinthia Fernandez, is awaiting trial separately 
for the boy's killing in May 2013.

She, too, could face the death penalty if convicted. Aguirre was a driver at a 
Woodland Hills assisted-living facility. Miller, an activities director, worked 
with him there for a little more than a year.

"He never rushed anyone ... he was really, really patient," Miller told jurors 
tasked with recommending whether Aguirre should be sentenced to death or life 
in prison without the possibility of parole. Aguirre later worked in the same 
facility as a care provider and then in the medications room, and Miller said 
she never heard any complaints about his work.

When Miller read about Aguirre's arrest, she was "shocked. I had to read the 
article several times. I could not believe it."

Defense attorney John Alan asked Miller if, given all the "terrible acts of 
abuse" Aguirre had committed against the victim, there was "still some good 
within him worth saving?" Miller replied, "Yes I do, because I remember who he 
was and how he treated people. His compassion."

Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami challenged Miller during cross- 
examination.

"Maybe Isauro Aguirre had 2 faces and you didn't really know him?" Hatami 
asked. Miller replied, "I do think I knew him. I don't think he faked his 
behavior ... Nothing will change my mind."

Mayra Castillejo also worked with Aguirre at the Woodland Hills care facility 
and testified about his interactions with patients. "He would bathe them, feed 
them ... would move them from the wheelchair to the toilet ... He would speak 
to them very respectfully," Castillejo testified through a Spanish interpreter. 
"The elderly would even speak to him about their personal problems because they 
felt lonely."

The 2 also had a relationship outside of work and knew each other's families. 
Castillejo attended Aguirre's sister's wedding. Castillejo characterized the 
relationship as a friendship, but admitted under cross-examination that she 
once kissed Aguirre.

Hatami quizzed her about Aguirre's angry, jealous reaction when he learned she 
was interested in another man. Castillejo -- who is now married with 3 children 
-- said Aguirre began obsessively calling several times a day, asking how she 
was and what she was doing, but said he never threatened or frightened her.

Asked the same question about whether Aguirre was worth saving, Castillejo 
replied, "Yes ... for the person I got to know before. And because I know it's 
possible that there is still some humanity in him."

The final prosecution witnesses last week included Gabriel's uncle, Christopher 
Contreras, who said he still remembers the way his nephew looked in the 
hospital whenever he thinks about the boy.

In emotional testimony, the military veteran said he had "seen some bad stuff 
in war," but what his nephew went through "makes it nothing."

"No matter how hard I try, that's how I remember Gabriel now," he testified. 
Contreras said the decision to have the boy cremated was made because he did 
not think anybody else should have to go through seeing the child "like that."

Jurors have seen photos of Gabriel's battered body lying on an autopsy table 
with injuries from head to toe and heard testimony from a medical social worker 
and sheriff's deputy that the injuries-- including burns, broken ribs, a 
fractured skull, missing teeth, multiple BB gun shots -- were the worst child 
abuse they had ever seen.

Contreras told jurors that he and his wife have adopted two of Gabriel's 
siblings, who experience feelings of guilt about what happened to their younger 
brother.

"It's almost a bad thing to say Gabriel's name because of the way the kids 
react ... Anything brings it up and there are setbacks," he said.

The victim's older brother and sister were not called to the stand during the 
trial's penalty phase, but both testified Oct. 18 during the guilt phase of 
trial about the abuse Gabriel suffered.

His brother, Ezequiel, told jurors his sibling was forced to eat cat litter and 
cat feces, was repeatedly beaten in the month's leading up to his death and was 
frequently kept in a "box" in the bedroom occupied by his mother and Aguirre. 
The boy's sister, Virginia, broke down in tears when she was shown a photo of 
Gabriel.

She testified that her mother and Aguirre had called the boy gay. Deputy 
District Attorney Scott Yang told jurors in his opening statement in the 
penalty phase that Aguirre deserves "nothing less than death."

He told jurors that Gabriel was "tortured" like a prisoner of war for eight 
months, during which he was repeatedly beaten by his mother's boyfriend. 
Defense attorney Michael Sklar countered that his client is "simple," "slow" 
and "easily led" and that "there are reasons to spare his life."

Gloria Nieves -- who operates a store across the street from where Aguirre had 
lived with his parents and 2 of his sisters in Canoga Park -- told jurors that 
she was very surprised to hear about the case against him. She described him as 
"very well-mannered" and "respectful to others," and said he made sure no cars 
were coming when children crossed the street to get to her business.

"Do you believe that Isauro Aguirre is inherently evil?" Alan asked. "No," she 
responded.

"Do you believe that Isauro Aguirre is good by nature?" the defense attorney 
asked.

"Yes," she answered.

Another witness, Los Angeles Unified School District employee Elias Juarez, 
testified that district records for Aguirre indicate he was held back in the 
9th and 11th grades and that he was 19 years old by his 2nd attempt to complete 
his junior year in high school.

He said the records indicated that Aguirre was in an English as a Second 
Language curriculum as a 7th- and 8th-grader, and that there was no 
documentation that Aguirre ever graduated.

Testimony is expected to wrap up Thursday, with jurors expected to hear closing 
arguments Dec. 11 before being asked to recommend to Los Angeles Superior Court 
Judge George G. Lomeli which sentence Aguirre should face for the boy's 
killing.

Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel went to the family's home in the 
200 block of East Avenue Q-10 in Palmdale on May 22, 2013, in response to a 
call that Gabriel was not breathing.

He was declared brain-dead that day and taken off life support two days later. 
Aguirre and Fernandez have been jailed without bail since being charged in May 
2013 with the boy's death.

The 2 were subsequently indicted by a Los Angeles County grand jury. 2 former 
Los Angeles County social workers -- Stefanie Rodriguez and Patricia Clement -- 
and supervisors Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt are awaiting trial on 1 felony 
count each of child abuse and falsifying public records involving the boy.

(source: nbclosangeles.com)