[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., N.C., S.C., FLA., MISS.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 26



TEXAS----impending execution

Unequal Under the Law: The Troubling Case of Terry Edwards, Set to Be Executed 
on Thursday


They removed all the black folks from the pool of potential jurors.

In the trial of a black man convicted of killing 2 white folks.

Not in 1950 ... but in 2002.

Prosecutors systematically removed all the black jurors from the jury pool of 
3,000 citizens. And by "systematically," I mean they wrote the letter "B" 
beside the names of potential jurors, and then seated an all-white jury. It 
doesn't get much more overt than that. After ensuring that more than 30 black 
juror-prospects did not make it onto the final jury panel, prosecutors managed 
to ensure that Terry Edwards would have an all-white jury when he faced the 
death penalty in Texas. And of course, the death penalty is what he got.

Where lynchings happened 100 years ago is where executions happen today.

When it comes to race in America, the prison system - and the death penalty in 
particular - shows us how little has changed in the past century. Our system of 
criminal justice is one of the social institutions that has been the least 
affected by the civil rights movement.

In the 1950s, as we began to transition from lynchings to state-sanctioned 
executions, African Americans were 22 % of the population in the U.S. but made 
up 75 % of executions. Now, nearly 70 years later, African Americans are 13 % 
of the population but still account for over 1/3 of executions and nearly 1/2 
(43 %) of death row.

Where lynchings happened 100 years ago is where executions happen today - in 
states like Texas. And the states that continued to hang on to slavery the 
longest are the same states still holding on to the death penalty - states like 
Texas.

Texas alone accounts for roughly half of the executions in the country. During 
sentencing, one of the things argued in Texas courts is the "future 
dangerousness" of the defendant. It's a nebulous idea for sure, but even more 
nebulous considering the unhealed wounds of our racial past.

In the case of Duane Buck, another Texas man currently fighting to stop his 
execution, data was allowed into the court as evidence that suggested that 
black folks are more likely to be dangerous than white folks. The New York 
Times featured Buck's case in an article "Condemned to Die Because He's Black." 
Mr. Buck's case is still before the Supreme Court.

Now back to Mr. Edwards - whose final hours are ticking away, and whose case 
may not even make it to the Supreme Court. In addition to striking dozens of 
potential black jurors from his jury, the prosecution presented an array of bad 
forensic tests, and withheld all sorts of other evidence. Terry Edwards did not 
get a fair trial, and he deserves one.

This isn't an isolated incident. The prosecutor in this case has been 
responsible for other wrongful convictions, including three folks who have now 
been exonerated.

What's especially troubling and consistent with other cases is the lethal duo 
of prosecutor, Thomas D'Amore, and forensic technician Vicki Hall. These 2 
teamed up on another trial of a man I've had the privilege to meet.

His name is Richard Miles. In 1995, D'Amore and Hall provided gunshot residue 
"evidence" that is eerily similar to the case of Mr. Edwards. Nearly 20 years 
later, Richard Miles was exonerated and freed (in 2012). Now he's the Founder 
of Miles of Freedom working for reform in the prison system. Here's what Mr. 
Miles has to say:

"I was 19 years old when I was arrested for murder. I'm 41 now. I have never 
shot a gun a day in my life. But that didn't matter. All the jury needed to 
hear was 'His hands came back dirty.' The prosecutor, Thomas D'Amore, and the 
forensic technician, Vicki Hall, put on false gunshot residue testimony. Now it 
looks like this same prosecutor and this same forensic technician are saying 
the same thing about Terry Edwards. It looks like the same set up."

I do not know what happened on July 8, 2002 that took the lives of 2 precious 
people - Tommy Walker and Mickell Goodwin. My heart goes out to their families 
and to all the victims of violence. I don't know what happened that night. But 
I do know that Terry Edwards did not get a fair trial, and he deserves one.

The death penalty needs to be remembered in the same way we remember lynching - 
with horror and shame.

Inscribed on the Supreme Court are the words: "Equal Justice Under the Law." 
The case of Terry Edwards is a poignant reminder that this vision is still a 
noble aspiration, though far from being fully realized. Too often, the best 
predictor of who gets executed in America is not the atrocity of the crime but 
far more arbitrary things like where the crime was committed, the race of the 
victim, and the resources of the defendant. I also know that there is a way to 
honor the victims of violence without more violence.

The death penalty needs to be remembered in the same way we remember lynching - 
with horror and with shame, and with a renewed passion to end all violence.

A generation from now I believe our grandchildren will look back at the death 
penalty in a similar way that we look back at slavery, Jim Crow, and lynching 
... They will shake their heads in bewilderment and say: "How did my 
grandparents ever think that was OK?" Even in Texas.

(source: Shane Claiborne is a Red Letter Christian and a founding partner of 
The Simple Way community, a radical faith community in Philadelphia. His 
forthcoming book, Executing Grace: Why It is Time to Put the Death Penalty to 
Death, comes out June 2016----Sojourners)

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

Late appeals denied, man's execution set for murder he says he didn't 
commit----A man who claims he is innocent is set to be executed Thursday 
evening in a robbery turned double murder in Dallas County.


More than 14 years after a robbery turned into a double murder in a Dallas 
suburb, Terry Edwards is being readied for his execution, set for Thursday 
evening.

The execution is scheduled to move forward after 6 p.m. after state and federal 
appellate courts rejected a flurry of late appeals filed this month by Edwards' 
attorneys maintaining his innocence of the crime and claiming prosecutorial 
misconduct at trial.

A little before a Balch Springs Subway opened for the day on July 8, 2002, 
cousins Terry and Kirk Edwards arrived to rob it, according to the filings. 
Terry, then 28, had worked at the sandwich shop a few months before but was 
fired for allegedly stealing money from the register. The 2 employees inside, 
Tommy Walker and Mickell Goodwin, were shot in the head and killed during the 
robbery.

The shootings were pinned on Terry, who was found by police almost immediately 
after the crime with the money and the gun. Kirk turned himself in the next day 
and pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery. Terry received the death penalty; 
Kirk got 25 years and is eligible for parole, though his recent review this 
month was denied, according to prison records.

Dallas County prosecutors argued Kirk was outside as a getaway driver and Terry 
had "controlled" and "engineered" the entire crime, according to court filings. 
But Terry and his lawyers maintain that it was Kirk who shot the man and woman 
inside the store - that Terry was in the bathroom with no knowledge of his 
cousin's murderous intent and was only handed the gun when he came out.

Audio recordings from the police car where Terry was held following the murders 
include him referring to his cousin, saying, "All you had to do was do what I 
told you," but also talking about himself.

"Man, I done fucked up this time, man, I fucked up big time. Got 2 mother 
fucking murders," Terry Edwards said, according to the county's brief to the 
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Edwards has been on death row for more than 13 years, and his first execution 
date was set for last May, according to court records. After he wrote to the 
Dallas court claiming his lawyer had abandoned him and that he only learned of 
his upcoming execution from prison staff, he was given more time. The court 
rescheduled his execution twice last year to allow new attorneys to be assigned 
and familiarize themselves with the case.

Earlier this month, those attorneys filed requests for relief in state and 
federal appellate courts as well in the Dallas district court that issued the 
death warrant.

The main argument Edwards used in recent filings is that the prosecutor at his 
trial "teamed up" with the defense's forensic technician who tested for gunshot 
residue on Edwards' hands after his arrest. Even though she only found 1 of 3 
elements found in gunshot residue, she stated on cross-examination that the 
others could have been wiped off his hands. Another expert obtained by Edwards' 
current attorneys says it is impossible to wipe only 2 of 3 elements off your 
hands. The state's own testing for gunshot residue on Edwards came back 
negative, according to Edwards" brief.

The prosecutor and analyst were involved in a previous trial that resulted in 
an exoneration based on wrongful conviction, according to the brief, a point 
Edwards claims warrants a review in his own case.

Edwards and his team of lawyers have also recently discovered a note the state 
had that could indicate another witness who was not pursued, who potentially 
could have placed Kirk Edwards inside the sandwich shop instead of outside as 
the prosecution claimed, according to the filing.

The Texas Attorney General's Office and the Dallas District Attorney???s Office 
responded to these claims by citing death penalty appellate legal procedure. 
Edwards has already gone through an appeals process in both state and federal 
court. Legally, for a new appeal to be considered, the issues being raised must 
not have been able to come up earlier. This allows for things like new science 
or new witnesses to be able to come forward.

The state and county have said Edwards' arguments don't fit that rule.

"This subsequent application is a bold-faced, last-minute attempt to inundate 
the Court with a large of amount of information, much of which is 
misrepresented or incomplete, in the hopes of obtaining a stay of execution," 
wrote Dallas Assistant District Attorney Jaclyn O'Connor Lambert in response to 
Edwards' filing in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Edwards, however, claims these issues weren't raised earlier because his 
previous attorneys were incompetent. In his 1st state habeas appeal filed in 
2009, which focuses on things outside of the trial such as new evidence, his 
former lawyer only wrote 10 original sentences in his brief, the rest being 
copied from previous cases, according to Edwards' filing.

"Absolutely, this evidence should have been brought to light much earlier, but 
his prior attorneys didn't do anything for him," said John Mills, 1 of Edwards' 
federal attorneys.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals both 
denied requests for relief earlier this week, restating that Edward's claims 
did not qualify for review.

A new motion Edwards filed Tuesday asked the Dallas district court that set his 
execution to withdraw or change the date, claiming the Dallas DA's Conviction 
Integrity Unit has blocked Edwards' lawyers from looking into the former 
prosecutor's past cases. Gov. Greg Abbott also has the ability to grant a 
30-day stay, though he has never done this.

If the execution is not stopped, Edwards, now 43, will be the 2nd person 
executed this year in Texas and the 3rd in the country. Christopher Wilkins was 
put to death in Huntsville on Jan. 11, and a week later, Virginia executed 
Ricky Gray. Last year, 7 people in Texas were put to death, a 20-year low.

(source: Texas Tribune)

***********

Witnesses To Execution: The Emotional Toll On Victims' Families


When you hear about the death penalty in Texas, the discussion often focuses on 
criminal proceedings or policy. Often overlooked -- how the death penalty 
affects victim's families -- the people left struggling to find healing in the 
wake of violent crimes. All this week, we're exploring the death penalty in our 
state -- it's history, how it's changed, and its future. The series is a 
collaboration between public radio stations across Texas. Today, we hear more 
on the varied reactions people have when their loved one's killer is put to 
death.

For years, the Kelley family ran a pawn shop near downtown Houston. In 1988, 
Robin Kelley was 24 years old. One day, the shop had some unwelcome visitors: 
Leo Jenkins and Eugene Hart.

"They were drug addicts and broke so they were casing pawn shops on the 
street," Robin Kelley says.

Robin's brother and sister, Mark and Kara Kelley, were working that shift.

"Jenkins was pawning, wanting to pawn a rifle or radio or something small and 
my brother, Mark said, 'No, I can't give you any money for this.'

The 2 men came back later and tried to rob the place, but it didn't go as 
planned.

"The next time that Hart and Jenkins came in and they just shot them up," Robin 
Kelley says.

Mark and Kara Kelley died from gunshot wounds at the scene. Robin says their 
close-knit family never recovered.

"It shattered the lives of our family for the rest of our lives, for the rest 
of our lives nothing was ever the same."

A Harris County jury sentenced Hart to life in prison. Jenkins, the gunman, was 
sentenced to death. Robin Kelley supports the death penalty. She thought 
Jenkins dying for the murders was the only way her family could find peace.

"When someone kills another, it creates an imbalance that cannot be fixed or 
mended until the soul who committed that crime is no longer on the planet," she 
says.

In 1996, the State of Texas scheduled Jenkins's execution by lethal injection. 
Prior to that year, families like the Kelleys weren't allowed to witness these 
executions. It was a new thing, the Kelley's would be the 1st.

"So, I was really scared, I didn't know how I was going to feel after," she 
says.

Before 1996, an inmate's family could be present, but not the victim's. A 
Houston victim's advocate, Andy Kahan, helped change this. He'd worked with 
families of crime victim's and convinced the Texas Department of Criminal 
Justice Board to change their policy.

So one day in February, Robin and her relatives crowded into a viewing room at 
the state's Huntsville penitentiary.

"I was expecting it to be violent and he would convulse and maybe scream and 
maybe you'd see some reactions that were really horrible, but nope, I didn't 
see that. So after it happened, he just had 1 final breath and that was it. It 
was completeness," she says.

Kahan says for most victims families, witnessing these executions gives them a 
sense of closure.

"I think it's extremely vital. I'll never forget one mother when she was asked, 
'Now that it's over, what does it mean to you?' And she very succinctly put it 
like this, 'You know what it means, it means I'm done with the Criminal Justice 
system, no more this technicality, no more this administration, I can go to my 
daughter's grave and tell her justice was carried out."

Kahan says most victim's families -- about 75 % -- support the death penalty 
and ask to be present during the execution. But there's the 25 %...the families 
that don't support the death penalty. They can feel like justice is out of 
their control.

"I have no idea why I'm against the death penalty, I just think it's barbaric 
and I don't want to be caught in a barbaric position," says Houston mother Jan 
Brown.

In 1987, Brown's 9-year-old daughter, Kandy Kirtland, was kidnapped out of her 
Bryan-College Station home, and ultimately shot by James Earhart. The stress of 
losing her daughter was overwhelming but she realized she didn't want Earhart 
-- or any criminal -- to be executed.

"I have children and maybe one of motivations is if they were ever involved in 
something like that I would certainly be against the death penalty," Brown 
says.

During Earhart's trial, Brown asked that her daughter's killer be sentenced to 
life in prison. But, the state chose death. While that type of sentence helped 
the Kelley family heal, it was counter to Brown's values.

Former Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Charlie Baird says he understands 
Brown's position, but...

"Ultimately the case is the case and the facts surrounding the murder and the 
prior criminal history of the defendant, those are typically the 2 things that 
weigh in whether a person received the death penalty or not."

Baird says, while closure for families is important, it doesn't trump public 
safety in Texas.

"I think we're doing it right, so we're doing it right from a judicial 
standpoint," Baird says.

To Baird, the bigger question isn't what families think...it's whether the 
death penalty makes people commit fewer crimes in the 1st place.

(source: tpr.org)

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

What Exonerations Mean For The Texas Death Penalty Debate----As part of our 
look at capital punishment in Texas that we're calling State of Executions, we 
have this look at what exonerations mean for the death penalty debate.


There are 242 people on death row in Texas. The crimes they were convicted of 
are deemed to be the most serious a person can commit. But are all of them 
guilty?

KERA's Christopher Connelly introduces us to one man who Anthony Graves says 
no. He spent more than 18 years incarcerated - 12 of them on death row - for a 
crime he didn't commit. As part of our look at capital punishment in Texas that 
we're calling State of Executions, we have this look at what exonerations mean 
for the death penalty debate.

These days, Anthony Graves says he has a good life. He lives in a large house 
on a tree-lined street in a nice neighborhood in Houston, with his dog named 
Papi.

"It is a Chihuahua mixed with a pitt - don't ask me how that happened. I saw 
him on Doggy Oodles, and I felt like I needed to rescue him," Graves explained.

A decade ago Graves was on death row. In 1992, Graves was wrongfully convicted 
as an accomplice to murder in the tiny town of Somerville. The murderer told 
police Graves helped him kill 6 people and burn down their house. The murderer 
later recanted, but Graves was still convicted, and sentenced to death by the 
state of Texas.

"It was just mind boggling to me that this man was sitting across from me 
telling me that they're going to kill me for something I know absolutely 
nothing about. And how am I supposed to process this and then continue to carry 
on?" Graves said.

Graves saw his execution postponed twice before his conviction was finally 
overturned. After 18 1/2 years behind bars, Graves was exonerated and released 
in 2010. He now runs a foundation that re-examines questionable convictions and 
sentences.

Mike Ware leads the Innocence Project of Texas and he says Graves is not an 
isolated case.

"What my experience has taught me is that there are many undetected wrongful 
convictions in Texas prisons. And I know that because I know when we look for 
them we find them," Ware said.

More than 300 people have been exonerated in Texas since 1989. Together, they 
spent more than 1,700 years behind bars. Most exonerees weren't on death row, 
but 13 of them - including Graves - were.

Exonerations have skyrocketed in recent years. Part of that is science - more 
use of DNA evidence and changes in forensics. Many prosecutors' offices now 
have units that re-examine possible wrongful convictions. And there are groups 
like the Innocence Project.

The exonerations have spurred legislation. Nicole Casarez is the lawyer who 
helped free Anthony Graves.

"Exonerations tell us what the causes of wrongful convictions are. If we study 
them, they're like the black boxes on an airplane. They can tell us what goes 
wrong. And Texas has made some changes to address some of those issues," she 
said.

More reforms are being proposed in Austin this session. But Casarez says there 
is a bigger, systemic disparity that the death penalty illuminates.

"There aren't any rich people on death row. If you are poor, if you are unable 
to hire good counsel, you're much more likely to end up with the death penalty. 
And that's something I think we need to be concerned about," she said. John 
Whitmire leads the criminal justice committee in the Texas Senate - and he says 
there are a number of ways the justice system still needs fixing. Still, he 
says we shouldn't look past the vast majority of people on death row who have 
conclusively committed terrible crimes.

"I take it very serious every time someone is executed. I reflect, I pause. 
Obviously we have a responsibility to do it right. But personally, I support 
the death penalty," he said.

Like Whitmire, 75 % of Texans support the death penalty. That's according to a 
2015 poll from the Texas Tribune and UT Austin. That poll found 59 % said they 
believe people are occasionally, or often wrongfully convicted in death penalty 
cases.

Graves says exonerations make it clear that the justice system sometimes fails.

"We still don't want to acknowledge that we have a badly flawed justice system, 
from top to bottom. And it starts with the way we think, and the way we see 
other people, those who don???t look like us," he said.

So Graves says reform efforts are good - but they will always be too small, too 
weak, and too late until people are ready to grapple with the reality of 
capital punishment in Texas.

(source: houstonpublicmedia.org)






VIRGINIA:

Judge: Prosecutors may seek death in missing sisters' deaths


A Virginia judge has ruled that prosecutors may seek the death penalty against 
a man accused of killing 2 young Maryland sisters who disappeared more than 40 
years ago.

News outlets report that Bedford County Circuit Judge James Updike Jr. denied a 
motion on Tuesday by Lloyd Lee Welch Jr.'s attorneys to rule out the death 
penalty ahead of Welch's 1st-degree murder trial in April.

The defense said Virginia didn't allow capital punishment when 12-year-old 
Sheila Lyon and 10-year-old Katherine Lyon disappeared in 1975, but the judge 
ruled that wasn't the case.

Updike also found that Welch breached his 2013 immunity agreement with Maryland 
prosecutors by changing his story several times.

The sisters were last seen walking to a mall in Washington's Maryland suburbs. 
Their bodies have never been found.

(source: Associated Press)






NORTH CAROLINA:

Prosecutors seeking death penalty for Hickory man in Halloween homicide


Prosecutors said Wednesday they will seek the death penalty against Micky Lee 
Swink, who is accused of killing his 66-year-old great-aunt at her Hickory home 
on Halloween.

Swink, 33, of Hickory and his mother, Tina Louise Swink, 50, of Hildebran, were 
both charged with 1st-degree murder in the Oct. 31 killing of Patricia Diane 
Swink. Prosecutors said Wednesday they will not pursue the death penalty 
against Tina Swink, who faces the possibility of life in prison without parole.

Hickory Police said they received a call on Nov. 1 about a death at the home of 
Patricia Swink. Upon arrival, police said they found Swink's dead body inside 
the home.

Police later arrested Micky Lee Swink, Tina Louise Swink and Richard Lee Deal, 
39, of Hildebran, who was charged with accessory after the fact.

(source: charlotteobserver.com)

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

Judge rejects Racial Justice Act claims by NC death row inmates


A Cumberland County judge ruled this week against 4 death row inmates still 
trying to use the shortlived Racial Justice Act to have their sentences 
commuted to a lifetime in prison.

Judge Erwin Spainhour did not take new evidence about whether racial bias 
played a role in the cases of Marcus Reymond Robinson, Tilmon Golphin, 
Christina S. "Queen" Walters and Quintel Augustine.

Instead, Spainhour decided the cases of the 4 death row inmates could no longer 
proceed because the Racial Justice Act, adopted in 2009 as groundbreaking 
legislation, was repealed in 2013.

The cases of Robinson, Golphin, Walters and Augustine have been widely watched 
in legal circles.

They were the first 4 inmates on North Carolina's death row to successfully 
persuade a Cumberland County judge through the use of statewide and local 
statistics that racial bias played a role in their cases. Gregory Weeks, a 
Cumberland County judge who has since retired from the bench, issued the 
historic rulings in their cases.

In their arguments before Weeks, the inmates presented a study that found 
African-Americans had been systemically excluded from serving on death-penalty 
juries.

Prosecutors have disagreed with such claims, arguing that the race of a 
potential juror rarely plays into their decisions for keeping or excluding 
someone from a panel. But Racial Justice Act advocates have countered that a 
Michigan State University study of 173 capital trials over a 20-year period in 
North Carolina shows otherwise.

The study found that in North Carolina, between 1990 and 2010, qualified black 
jurors were more than twice as likely as whites to be removed from juries by 
prosecutors with peremptory strikes.

Weeks highlighted that in his April 2012 in Robinson's case - the first heard 
and decided under the Racial Justice Act. Most of the 150 death row inmates 
filed claims under the Racial Justice Act when the law was still on the books.

State prosecutors argued that Weeks' rulings in the first 4 cases heard - and 
ultimately the Racial Justice Act - was based on a range of statistics that 
were too broad.

The state Supreme Court vacated Weeks' ruling in December 2015 and sent the 
case back to Superior Court to give prosecutors more time to respond to the 
statistical analyses presented by the inmates.

But prosecutors argued to Spainhour, the judge who picked up the case after 
Weeks, that the 4 inmates could no longer use the Racial Justice Act since it 
was no longer a law on the books.

Attorneys for the inmates argued against that, pointing out that when the 
inmates filed their claims the Racial Justice Act was law and not allowing 
their claims to continue under statute in place then was unconstitutional.

Spainhour sided with prosecutors, saying in his ruling this week that Weeks' 
2012 decision should not be considered a final judgment because all appeals in 
the case had not been exhausted.

Ken Rose, an attorney who represented Golphin, said Wednesday he plans to 
appeal the Spainhour decision to the state Supreme Court. Golphin and another 
inmate have cases pending in federal court, too, challenging the state Supreme 
Court ruling that sent them back to death row after Weeks granted them 
sentencing relief.

Golphin was convicted of killing a deputy and state trooper in a traffic stop. 
Robinson was convicted of killing a teen in a robbery. Walters was sentenced to 
death row for leading a gang that kidnapped and killed 2 women. Augustine was 
convicted of murdering a Fayetteville police officer.

The Racial Justice Act lawsuits and a series of others challenging the fairness 
of the death penalty have created a de facto moratorium on executions in North 
Carolina for more than a decade.

(source: newsobserver.com)






SOUTH CAROLINA:

Judge sends sealed files in Dylann Roof case to state court


The South Carolina judge overseeing the upcoming state trial of convicted 
church shooter Dylann Roof will review sealed federal court records dealing 
with Roof's mental competency, which might prevent the need to evaluate him 
again.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel ordered that transcripts from 
Roof's competency hearings, psychological evaluations and records from defense 
experts be sent to Circuit Judge J.C. Nicholson.

Roof, 22, was sentenced to death earlier this month in federal court for the 
slayings of 9 parishioners as they prayed during a June 2015 Bible study at 
Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. A jury had found him guilty of 33 charges 
including hate crimes and obstruction of religion.

After fielding requests from Roof's legal team, Gergel twice found Roof 
competent to stand trial. The hearings on Roof's mental competency were closed 
to the public over objections from media outlets including The Associated 
Press.

Against Gergel's own advice, Roof was allowed to represent himself during the 
sentencing phase, a time when many lawyers in capital cases introduce evidence 
their clients suffered from mental illness at the time of the crimes.

Roof said he wouldn't put up such evidence. His former defense lawyers - still 
on the case as legal advisers - repeatedly told the judge they feared their 
client was dooming himself to a death sentence out of fear of evidence that 
might embarrass him or his family.

Roof called no witnesses at all, cross-examined none of the prosecution's 
witnesses and told jurors in a closing argument, "I still feel like I had to do 
it."

Attorneys representing Roof in his state death penalty case have asked he be 
mentally evaluated. Sharing the federal competency documents, Gergel wrote, 
"may allow the state court to avoid needless repetition of proceedings already 
completed in this Court."

State charges against Roof include nine counts of murder. His state trial was 
supposed to start Jan. 17, but was indefinitely postponed while his federal 
trial was underway.

Solicitor Scarlett Wilson has said she should decide how to handle Roof's state 
death penalty trial in the next 30 days. Wilson has also said she is evaluating 
what happened in the federal trial and is awaiting some additional information 
to decide how to proceed in state court.

If a South Carolina jury sentences Roof to death, he would be the only person 
facing both a federal death sentence and a state death sentence, according to 
the Death Penalty Information Center.

(source: Associated Press)






FLORIDA:

Death row inmate appears in Seminole Cour----Clemente Javier Aguirre-Jarquin to 
get new trial


A man currently on Florida's death row appeared Wednesday in a Seminole County 
courtroom.

Clemente Javier Aguirre-Jarquin appeared for a hearing just months after the 
Florida Supreme Court granted him a new trial.

Aguirre was sentenced to death in 2006 for the 2004 double murders of Cheryl 
Williams and her mother, Carol Bareis.

Aguirre's attorney said Tuesday that new evidence in the case points to 
Williams' daughter Samantha, as the real killer.

"Our focus with Mr. Aguirre will continue to be that he is innocent of these 
crimes," attorney Marie-Louise Parmer said.

Aguirre has been on death row for almost 11 years. Florida's highest court 
granted him a new trial in October, citing new evidence.

"(It was) unanimously decided that based on the newly discovered evidence of 
the DNA of the bloodstains at the crime scene and 7 statements by Samantha 
Williams, admitting that she killed her mother and grandmother," Parmer said.

Parmer said DNA tests after Aguirre's conviction failed to place him at the 
scene and instead the DNA matched Samantha Williams.

The state argues Aguirre's clothing was covered in the victims' blood and found 
a knife nearby.

After the Supreme Court ruled Florida's death penalty laws unconstitutional, 
Aguirre's attorney said it is unclear if death will be on the table in the 
upcoming trial.

"Whether or not they could even apply a new death penalty statute to Aguirre is 
certainly questioned. It may be that they can, but we don't know. So there's a 
lot of questions," Parmer said.

Aguirre is scheduled to be back in court on March 22.

(source: clickorlando.com)






MISSISSIPPI----new death sentence

'No mercy,' judge tells Garcia in death for Ja'Naya Thompson


Circuit Judge Lisa Dodson showed no mercy as she sentenced Alberto Garcia to 
death for the capital murder of Gulfport 5-year-old Ja'Naya Thompson.

Referring to the Bible, Dodson told him, "'Mercy is shown to those who show 
mercy.' You showed no mercy."

Dodson deliberated less than two hours before giving her verdict Wednesday, the 
3rd day of Garcia's sentencing trial.

"It was brutal, cold and torturous," Dodson said of Ja'Naya's killing.

Garcia, 31, had faced either life without parole or the death penalty. He 
waived his right to a jury sentencing and opted to have Dodson sentence him 
after he pleaded guilty Jan. 18 in Harrison County Circuit Court. The 
underlying crime to the hanging that suffocated her was sexual battery.

"He (Garcia) is truly repugnant in character and actions. He is what we as a 
society fear and detest - pure evil.----Leonard Papania, Gulfport police chief

When Dodson asked Garcia if he had anything to say before he was sentenced, he 
replied, "No, ma'am," in a voice quieter than in his plea hearing had been last 
week, when he had calmly and matter-of-factly told the judge about the night he 
assaulted and killed Ja'Naya.

The family's statement

After the sentencing, Ja'Naya's family sent a statement to the media. It was 
written by a grandparent.

"First of all, I want to thank God," the family said. The family also thanked 
friends and family members, as well as District Attorney Joel Smith and his 
staff, including Assistant District Attorney Crosby Parker, and Gulfport Police 
Chief Leonard Papania and his staff. They also expressed gratitude to "everyone 
for prayers and support through all of our hard times."

"Now my granddaughter can rest in peace and we can have closure," the statement 
said.

Smith spoke to reporters after he met with the family.

"A lot of times when we get to the end of a jury trial and you receive a guilty 
verdict against the defendant there is some sense of joy," he said. "But today 
there is no joy, because a child was lost. Today is a day where we can no 
longer have to talk about this defendant, Alberto Garcia. And we can begin the 
healing process for Ja'Naya Thompson's family."

"And hopefully, she can begin to rest in peace."

Family member Violet Willis told the Sun Herald, "Thank God that justice has 
been served. Now we all can be at peace and try to live our lives. It's been 
real tough on us." Prayers and the community's support have helped, she said. 
"These couple of days have been kind of hard. Thank God we made it."

Many of Ja'Naya's family and friends wept quietly during the sentencing. 
Ja'Naya's mother, in tears, was escorted from the courtroom as Dodson recounted 
the facts of the case and Garcia's lack of remorse. About 1/3 of the crowd was 
Gulfport police officials and investigators.

"What stands out the most to me is the strength and grace of the victim's 
family. I am so appreciative of the support and love they have shown to all of 
us throughout the process. I have no doubt Ja'Naya is smiling down from heaven 
on each of them today."----Joel Smith, district attorney

No one showed up at court to support Garcia.

'Pure evil'

Papania said Garcia is society's worst nightmare.

"He is truly repugnant in character and actions," the chief said. "He is what 
we as a society fear and detest - pure evil."

The girl was sexually assaulted and hanged in an unoccupied mobile home not far 
from her home at The Palms apartments off Klein and Three Rivers roads.

She had been reported missing by her mother about 7:40 p.m. July 16, 2014, from 
just outside the sliding-glass door of their apartment. A rescue team found 
her, hanged by 2 socks, in a trailer off nearby Whitney Drive about 8:15 a.m. 
the next day. A trail and makeshift bridge lead from The Palms into woods 
behind Whitney Drive.

Alive when hanged

Dodson said state Medical Examiner Mark LeVaughn testified a period of time 
passed between 2 assaults on the child. She was tied to a couch in the 
roach-infested trailer and her head was pushed into the cushion of a chair, 
Dodson said. LeVaughn said she would have experienced significant pain and 
terror.

Marks on her face indicate she scratched herself trying to loosen the socks 
Garcia had tied around her neck, he said.

Ja'Naya, who was 4 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 50 pounds, was unable to get 
away from Garcia, a large man, Dodson said.

Dodson disagreed with the defense attorneys' arguments that Garcia committed 
the acts because he suffers from an anxiety disorder, was under stress and came 
from a bad home environment. A psychiatric examination requested by Garcia's 
attorneys showed he had a "horrible" mother and had received psychiatric 
treatment as a child when he showed violent tendencies, Dodson said.

Garcia could have received treatment for his anxiety as an adult, Dodson said.

Dodson also said Garcia has "an obsession with sex."

'He never told the whole story'

Evidence showed Garcia's Xbox was used to download information on child sex, 
child abduction, and child bindings and torture a few days before Ja'Naya 
disappeared. He had binoculars near his bedroom window, which overlooked a 
playground at The Palms, where he also lived.

But Dodson said she found Garcia's anxiety disorder and childhood had nothing 
to do with his actions.

She said she considered the facts of the case, arguments and evidence and found 
although Garcia admitted he sexually assaulted and hanged the girl, he gave 
conflicting statements and tried to blame what happened on his neighbor Julian 
"Casper" Gray. The DA's office included information about to the grand jury 
that reviewed the capital murder case, but Gray was not indicted, Smith said.

Dodson said she also considered Ja'Naya's age and Garcia's conflicting 
statements.

"He never told the whole story" and he expressed no remorse, she said.

Ja'Naya's disappearance and the announcement of her death shocked the 
community. Even people who didn't know her had helped search for her. Many 
attended the visitation before her funeral.

She was 'everybody's child'

After Ja'Naya's death, Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes had referred to her as 
"everybody's child."

"I believe Judge Dodson made the right ruling," Hewes said Wednesday. "But this 
will never be over for Ja'Naya's family. It's the worst thing most of us have 
ever seen. It hurt the entire community."

A death sentence in Mississippi carries with it an automatic appeal.

Before Dodson had deputies take Garcia out of the courtroom, she told him, "I'm 
sure I will be seeing you in court again, Mr. Garcia," referring to the appeal.

Smith, who prosecuted the case with Parker, said he is proud of the efforts of 
the Gulfport Police Department to bring Garcia to justice.

"But what stands out the most to me is the strength and grace of the victim's 
family," Smith said. "I am so appreciative of the support and love they have 
shown to all of us throughout the process. I have no doubt Ja'Naya is smiling 
down from heaven on each of them today."

Joining death row

With Garcia's sentencing, there are now 48 people on death row in Mississippi. 
The last person sentenced to death in the state was Rahim Ambrose in 2015 in 
the 2013 killing of Robert Trosclair of Pass Christian.

The last person executed in the state was Gary Carl Simmons Jr., on June 20, 
2012. He had been sentenced in the death of Jeffrey Wolfe.

On death row

After Wednesday's sentencing of Alberto Garcia, there are 48 inmates on 
Mississippi's death row. Of those, 13 were convicted of capital murders in 
South Mississippi counties. Those 13 are listed here by date of sentencing:

Jan. 13, 1976: Richard Gerald Jordan kidnapped and shot Edwina Marter, 32, of 
Gulfport in Harrison County. At 70, he's the state's oldest and longest-serving 
inmate on death row.

Nov. 26, 1981: James Billiot used an 8-pound sledgehammer to beat to death his 
mother, stepfather and 14-year-old stepsister in Hancock County.

March 4, 1987: Roger Eric Thorson kidnapped and shot his former girlfriend, 
Gloria Jean McKinney, 29, in Harrison County.

Sept. 8, 1990: Alan Dale Walker kidnapped, raped and drowned Konya Rebecca 
Edwards, 19, of Long Beach at Crystal Lake in Harrison County. He was 
prosecuted in Warren County.

May 5, 1996: Blayden Grayson stabbed Minnie Smith, 78, during a burglary in 
George County.

Nov. 3, 2001: Thong Le and an alleged accomplice robbed Minh Heiu Thi Huynh, 
46, of $1,300 and strangled her and her daughters, Thuy, 11, and Than, 15, in 
Jackson County.

Aug. 27, 2004: Joseph Bishop Goff mutilated and set afire Brandy Stewart Yates, 
29, of Irvington, Alabama, in a hotel room in George County.

June 21, 2007: Jason Lee Keller shot and robbed Biloxi store clerk Hat Nguyen, 
41, in Harrison County.

Aug. 26, 2008: Timothy Robert Ronk stabbed and robbed Michelle Craite, 37, and 
set her Harrison County home on fire.

Dec. 5, 2008: Leslie Galloway beat, raped, cut, set afire and ran over 
Shakeylia Anderson, 17, in Harrison County.

Aug. 23, 2013: Timothy Nelson Evans robbed and strangled his landlady, Wenda 
Holling, 70, in Kiln in Hancock County.

June 19, 2015: Rahim Ambrose, beat, stabbed and strangled Robert Trosclair, 31, 
in Pass Christian in Harrison County.

Jan. 25, 2017: Alberto Julio Garcia raped and hanged Ja'Naya Thompson, 5, in 
Gulfport in Harrison County.

Note: Fred Sanford Spicer, who was sentenced to death in 2001 in George County, 
was resentenced in 2012 and given life without parole.

Compiled from Sun Herald archives and MDOC records

(source: www.sunherald.com)

**********

Man gets death sentence in slaying of 5-year-old girl


A Mississippi judge has sentenced a man to death for the killing of a 
5-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted and hanged with the use of her 
socks.

Local news organizations report that 32-year-old Alberto Julio Garcia was 
sentenced Wednesday for the 2014 killing of Ja???Naya Thompson.

Garcia had pleaded guilty to capital murder on Jan. 18.

Harrison County Circuit Court Judge Lisa Dodson could have sentenced Garcia to 
the death penalty or to life without parole.

The child's body was found in an abandoned trailer in July 2014.

(source: Associated Press)