[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., LA., NEB., NEV.

[Rick Halperin]

July 29



TEXAS----inmate seeks to drop appeals and speed executuion

Travis Mullis, On Death Row For Stomping Infant To Death, Files Request To 
Fast-Track His Execution----Mullis has waived all his appeals and fired his 
attorneys.

Travis Mullis, a 31-year-old Texas man who stomped his 3-year-old baby to 
death, has filed a request to fast-track his path to the death chamber, 
according to the Houston Chronicle.

Mullis made headlines when he was sentenced to death row in 2011 after he 
stomped his little baby to death by the Galveston seawall in a ghastly 
culmination of what his attorneys said was a series of "stupid decisions." His 
attorneys had previously pointed out that Mullis was an "emotional mental 
health quadriplegic," detailing his horrific upbringing and the result of his 
childhood scars on his mental being.

According to the documents, Mullis' mother died when he was a toddler, and 
between the ages of 3 and 6, he was sexually abused repeatedly. He spent years 
in and out of institutions, and when he was 18, Mullis' adoptive mother kicked 
him out to live on his own. This is when he moved to Texas and settled with a 
woman he had met online on the outskirts of Houston.

But by 2008, Mullis and his girlfriend found themselves without any money and 
without a home, at which point a couple which had been living in a trailer 
invited them to come live with them.

At one point during his stay, Mullis took the couple's 8-year-old daughter to a 
schoolyard where he tried molesting her. When the child began crying, Mullis 
panicked, later ruing the fact that he had "screwed" himself by "stepping over 
the line."

Partly to avoid eviction, and partly to introspect his next course of action, 
Mullis drove to Galveston with his 3-month-old sleeping in the back seat.

Court documents showed that the child started crying, making Mullis angry. In 
his impulsive rage, the Texas man tried to first molest his toddler boy, but 
when he wouldn't keep quiet, stomped his head till it gave away.

"I make stupid decisions, what can I say. I did it on impulse and killed him 
right after," he told the Chronicle.

He fled to Pennsylvania but four days after the incident and surrendered to 
Philadelphia police with a detailed confession about the crimes he had 
committed. He was sentenced to death despite protestations by his attorneys 
that Mullis had been subject to emotional and sexual abuse himself while 
growing up.

Mullis has waived appeals and won't seek the counsel of his attorneys, having 
fired them. He says he doesn't want to be excused because he committed serious 
crimes which should lead to death. All he wants, Mullis says, is that his 
suffering be reduced by fast-tracking his path to death.

"I'm 100 % guilty of my crime nobody contests that," Mullis said. "The fight is 
over my sentence. I'm accepting of my death sentence. My lawyers are against 
the death penalty for anyone."

(source: inquisitr.com)

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

Bail reduced for woman accused in son's death


A district judge in Bowie County reduced bail from $100,000 to $20,000 at a 
hearing Friday for a woman accused in the death of her 4-year-old son earlier 
this year.

Khadijah Wright, 26, appeared before 5th District Judge Bill Miller for a bond 
reduction hearing Friday morning with Dallas lawyer Jasmine Crockett in a 
2nd-floor courtroom of the Bowie County courthouse. Wright is charged with 
injury to a child by omission in the March death of young D'Money Lewis. 
D'Money's father, Benearl Lewis, is charged with capital murder in the death.

Wright is accused of allowing Benearl Lewis to be alone with the couple's 
children despite a care plan with Child Protective Services prohibiting 
D'Money's father to have unsupervised contact or spend the night at the rent 
house where Wright and the children were living in Wake Village, Texas, on 
Redwater Road.

Crockett called Wright's mother to testify on her behalf at Friday's hearing. 
Marisha Hamilton testified that Wright graduated from Arkansas High School in 
Texarkana, Ark., and that Wright has some type of online degree. Hamilton said 
Wright was working at Mayo Manufacturing in Texarkana at the time of Wright's 
arrest 128 days ago.

Hamilton said she lives on a disability payment of less than $1,000 monthly and 
denied Wright has any assets or felony convictions. Hamilton told the court she 
can only afford to post $2,000 for her daughter's release.

Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards called Wake Village Police 
Department Detective Todd Aultman, the lead investigator into D'Money's murder. 
Aultman said the case was brought to his department's attention March 6 by 
members of the Texarkana, Texas, Police Department.

Aultman said Texarkana, Texas, police were working a traffic accident at West 
Seventh Street and Bishop Lane when the couple approached them about getting a 
police escort to the hospital for their child. Aultman said an officer who 
checked on D'Money found him unresponsive, not breathing and cold to the touch.

D'Money died at a Little Rock hospital 2 days later.

Aultman said that during his investigation, he found that Child Protective 
Services and its counterpart agency in Texarkana, Ark., as well as a child 
welfare agency in the state of Mississippi, had become involved amid 
allegations of child abuse. Aultman said 10 to 15 cases concerning the children 
have been initiated over the 5 years before D'Money's death. D'Money has older 
and younger siblings.

Also discussed was Wright's alleged lack of cooperation with investigators. 
Wright allegedly left her job about 2 p.m. March 6 without clocking out or 
telling anyone she was leaving after receiving a text from Benearl Lewis that 
there was an emergency, according to a probable cause affidavit. A little more 
than two hours later, the couple came upon the traffic accident being worked by 
Texarkana, Texas, police.

While in cardiac arrest, D'Money was taken by ambulance to Wadley Regional 
Medical Center. Aultman's report states he observed a large area of bruising on 
the boy's back and "strap" marks on D'Money's legs and back. Medical staff 
members at Wadley told Aultman the boy was suffering from a brain bleed and 
bruising to his back and chest, "as if he had been kicked."

After initial treatment at Wadley, D'Money was airlifted to Arkansas Children's 
Hospital in Little Rock. Medical staff there told investigators the boy's 
injuries were inconsistent with the account allegedly provided by his parents 
and more likely the result of abuse.

Lewis and Wright allegedly told investigators that D'Money had "jumped or 
fallen from a deep freezer and that his eyes rolled back in his head," the 
affidavit states.

After D'Money's death March 8, his body was taken to Dallas for an autopsy. 
Among the damage documented to the child's body was a "space occupying subdural 
hematoma" that had caused the child's brain to "herniate down into his spine," 
the affidavit states. Also noted at autopsy were bruising to the child's legs 
and back and tissue damage in his kidneys.

Crockett argued that Wright's $1 million bail, the same amount set for Benearl 
Lewis, is too high and that allowing Wright to make bond will permit her more 
time to prepare a defense with her lawyer. Richards pointed out that Wright has 
a history of failing to comply with court orders, as evidenced by her disregard 
of the CPS care plan in place to protect her children from Benearl Lewis, and 
argued that if Wright had abided by the care plan, D'Money's death might have 
been avoided.

Miller agreed to reduce Wright's bond to $20,000. That means Wright will need 
to pay a commercial bondsman $2,000, or ten percent of the bail amount, to bond 
out of jail. Miller ordered that Wright will be outfitted with a GPS leg 
monitor and must either be working or actively seeking employment if she is 
freed while her case proceeds.

Wright faces 5 to 99 years or life if convicted of injury to a child by 
omission. Benearl Lewis faces death by lethal injection or life without parole 
if convicted of capital murder. Prosecutors have not said whether the death 
penalty will be sought.

Both Wright and Benearl Lewis are scheduled to appear in August before Miller 
for pretrial hearings. Lewis' case is set for trial in November. Wright's is 
scheduled for December.

(source: Texarkana Gazette)






FLORIDA:

Convicted murderer sentenced to death


On Tuesday, July 24, merely 32 minutes after the jury instructions for 
deliberation were read, a 12-person Okeechobee County jury unanimously 
recommended a sentence of death to a Maine man who was imprisoned at Okeechobee 
Correctional Institution (OCI) for the premeditated murder of his cell mate.

Michael Lawrence Woodbury, 42, of Windham, pleaded guilty on May 21 to the 
Sept. 22, 2017, capital felony of 1st degree premeditated murder of his cell 
mate, Antoneeze Haynes. According to the report, Woodbury struck Haynes 
repeatedly with a padlock.

Woodbury is set for a Spencer hearing to present information not presented at 
trial to the judge at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 13. The Spencer hearing, which 
takes its name from the 1993 case of Spencer vs. Florida, is held so defendants 
facing the death penalty have the opportunity to persuade the court against it.

"I know that we took a lot of your time and focus away from other things you 
would probably rather be doing or should be doing," 19th Judicial Circuit St. 
Lucie County Circuit Judge Sherwood Bauer told the jurors. "I will tell you 
that over the course of hundreds and hundreds of jury trials that I've presided 
over as a judge and the 50 or so as a lawyer, I don't know if I've ever seen a 
jury pay as much attention as much as you all did, to be honest with you. You 
all had to focus on a lot, and I appreciate that."

The penalty phase proceedings began Monday, July 23, in Courtroom C of the 
Okeechobee County Judicial Center. Woodbury, who represented himself, was 
accompanied with his standby counsel Stanley Glenn and Shane Manship. 
Prosecuting on behalf of the State of Florida from the 19th Judicial Circuit 
were Assistant State Attorneys Ashley Albright and Don Richardson.

Judge Bauer later told the jury, "While I find it very unusual, given such an 
important case, to have someone who chose to represent themselves, it's 
certainly a constitutional right and I respect Mr. Woodbury's choice to 
represent himself in the case if that's what he feels was in his best interest. 
He made that choice, he confirmed it on multiple occasions but that made it 
unusual; it made it very difficult to tell how much time the case was going to 
take."

In his opening statement Mr. Richardson told a story that preceded the murder 
of Haynes.

It was of an 18-year-old Woodbury who was arrested for armed robbery, and after 
his release, attempted to commit additional robberies. One of those was an 
attempted robbery of a card shop in Zephyrhills that reportedly left Woodbury 
empty-handed.

Another was when Woodbury reportedly walked into a bank, pulled up his shirt, 
flashed a handgun to the teller and was given approximately $4,000 in cash. The 
3rd robbery attempt came after Woodbury had been sentenced to 10 years for the 
previous 2. At the age of 31, on the morning of July 2, 2007, just 59 days 
after his release from a Maine prison - Woodbury shot and killed 3 people at 
the Army Barracks store in Conway, N.H.

"Right after the murder of Haynes, the defendant gave a video-recorded 
statement to a member of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. We are 
going to play portions of that statement that flatly contradict what this 
defendant told you during the trial. After you are presented with all of this 
evidence, we are going to ask you give the legally justified verdict and 
sentence of this case, and that is death."

Woodbury was given three life sentences without going to trial for the murders.

Woodbury reportedly claimed credit for manipulating New Hampshire authorities 
into shipping him to Florida in 2009, stating that New Hampshire was "too 
afraid" to incarcerate him in its prison population and did not want him in its 
"protective custody palace."

Woodbury also claimed to be familiar with Florida's prison system from his time 
served for a bank robbery charge from 1996 to 2002.

In arguing for the death penalty, the state presented 4 aggravating 
circumstances in the most recent murder:

1) The capital felony was committed by a person previously convicted of a 
felony and under sentence of imprisonment or placed on community control or on 
felony probation;

2) The defendant was previously convicted of another capital felony or of a 
felony involving the use of or threat of violence to the person;

3) The capital felony was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel and;

4) The capital felony was a homicide and was committed in a cold, calculated 
and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification.

Woodbury told the jury that his intent was not to kill Haynes. "There was never 
a point where I thought 'I want to kill this dude\'." He asked the jury, "What 
can I do? What can I do to make up for it? Tell me. A needle full of poison, 
that gonna fix it? Because if so, give it to me." Woodbury said that Haynes 
didn't deserve the kind of death he received by his hands and then referenced a 
statement by OCI Major Frank Gatto about the number of prisoners per OCI staff 
saying, "Like the major said, when you walk through that door, you are on your 
own."

Woodbury then stated that after the altercation that led to Haynes' death, he 
gave a statement to authorities. "That whole thing was, just, a bad thing and I 
definitely feel bad about it. I felt so bad about it that I gave a bad 
confession. He (Mr. Albright) came in to see me, like 2 hours afterward, and I 
felt like I wanted the death penalty because after I killed them dudes up north 
I swore to God, to Jesus, that I would never kill anybody ever again, under no 
circumstances. When they came and told me Mr. Haynes had died, I was like, 
'Wow'. I said certain things to Mr. Albright to get him to charge me with the 
death penalty, I did that. 2 days later, I wrote him a letter and told him the 
truth. I told him that I already told 3 officers that testified, that Mr. 
Haynes had actually in fact tried to rape me. Ya know, that's not a subject a 
man wants to even talk about," Woodbury stated.

"I don't think you should give me a needle full of poison," Woodbury told the 
jury. "For what, what's that going to solve? You think that's going to solve 
something, anybody? It's not. The last 22 years, I've been out exactly 60 days, 
that's it. I'm in prison for the rest of my life, I have no chance of ever 
getting out. Every time I'm outside of the dorm, it's secure movement. I have 
to have a pass to go somewhere and I have to be escorted. Ya know, it's 
pointless to kill me but if that will make you feel better, go on and do it."

The state brought forth witnesses to testify against Woodbury stemming from his 
1st robbery that involved a Windham, Maine, convenience store clerk, who 
testified: "A guy burst through the door with a red ski mask and told us to get 
on the floor. He then took a Burger King bag and flung it at me and told me to 
give him the money." The witness said the cash was handed directly to Woodbury, 
who was able to get away with approximately $300 during that incident. Mr. 
Richardson asked the witness and victim, "Were you in fear of your life?" to 
which the individual replied, "Oh, definitely!" A detective with the Windham 
Police Department collected the bag and sent it to the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation for analysis. A forensic examiner was requested to reexamine 
prints from the Burger King bag that were originally examined by a now-retired 
examiner. Mr. Albright asked the witness, "Whose prints were contained on the 
Burger King bag?" and the forensic examiner testified that when compared to a 
set of known prints from custody, "The right palm print matched that of 
Woodbury's."

In the bank robbery incident, Woodbury flashed what appeared to be a gun to a 
teller who testified she was about 3-4 months pregnant at the time. "I was 
robbed,\" stated the former teller, "A gentleman pulled up his shirt, showed me 
a gun and said to give me all the money. I then put it in his hand and told a 
co-worker I had been robbed. They then activated the alarm." Mr. Richardson 
asked the woman, "During the event, were you in fear for your life?" and the 
woman responded simply, "Yes."

The prosecution's next witness was the lead investigator for the New Hampshire 
State Police regarding Woodbury's triple murder. The detective testified that 
Woodbury was, "apprehended about 2-4 hours" after the homicides due to the 
public reporting seeing a man matching Woodbury's description along railroad 
tracks outside of Conway, N.H.

"During the interview, I asked Woodbury to tell me his side, and he said his 
intention was basically to rob it (Army Barracks store)." The detective 
continued, "He (Woodbury) said he was basically homeless, on foot. The clerk 
(Walker) suspected him of thievery. The clerk then supposedly leaned below the 
counter when Woodbury drew his gun and shot. The 2 men, Gary and William Jones, 
were in 'the wrong place at the wrong time' and he took off in 'flight mode'." 
The detective then stated, "Woodbury's story matched the crime scene." Woodbury 
received 3 life sentences for the triple homicide, and the detective identified 
Woodbury seated at the counsel table. A box cutter was found at the scene 
behind the counter with Walker.

The prosecution's final witness was the lead investigator assigned from Florida 
Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), who was requested by FDOC to perform the 
investigation of inmate Haynes' death. In a press release from FDOC on Dec. 16, 
2014, it was stated that a Memorandum of Understanding exists between FDOC and 
FDLE. It mandates any questionable deaths would be investigated by FDLE and 
that FDLE is immediately notified of any death that occurs at any FDOC 
facility. Accompanying the investigator were 5 clips of undercover audio/video 
recorded statements of Woodbury after being read his Miranda warning.

In the clips, Woodbury can be seen and heard providing contradictory 
information to his reason for the attack on his cell mate. "I wanted to make 
sure they (OCI) had switched correctional officers ... I gave him every 
fighting chance to defend himself," Woodbury stated. He also claimed to give 
Haynes, "one of the most brutal beat-downs possible," and that he, "was so 
happy to kill someone again, the blood-lust, ya know?" A voice in the video 
asked Woodbury, "Did you barricade the door?" with Woodbury responding, "Yes, 
with paper. It's very easy to do because it's on a track." The reported 
reasoning for Woodbury's attack was that he was upset that the FDOC agency 
would not transfer him to a prison up north to see his father who was 
supposedly dying of cancer at the time.

Woodbury was seen and heard again in the video saying another reason for his 
attack on Haynes being due to his manipulation of religion. "Once he (Haynes) 
decided to start a hustle with a Christian prayer circle, I thought, "You're 
mine now!" An indiscernible voice in the video asked, "Did you enjoy it?" 
Woodbury's reply was, "Of course I did."

Woodbury also decided to testify on his behalf. Just prior to entering the 
witness box, Woodbury submitted 2 reports from OCI personnel as evidence for 
mitigating circumstances on his behalf. The mitigating circumstances presented 
by Woodbury were: 1) The capital felony was committed while the defendant was 
under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance, and; 2) The 
existence of any other factors in the defendant's background that would 
mitigate against imposition of the death penalty.

"Ultimately, I really don't think I did anything wrong. He woke me up at 2 a.m. 
ready for battle when he touched my leg towards my groin," Woodbury stated 
before he addressed the video, "I would like to say that it is pretty obvious 
that I'm making stuff up as I go along. I would also like to say that is me at 
my bipolar worst. I don't feel like I killed him because I'm crazy, I did it 
because he tried to rape me."

Woodbury then shifted to his opinion of possibly receiving the sentence of 
death by the jury, "I shouldn't have been living life like that, I was living 
wrong and people are dead because of me. I'm being punished by the DOC, I think 
it's wrong to use this case to kill me for 2007. Killing me really wouldn't 
solve anything, if anyone thinks differently, vote for it."

In cross-examination by the prosecution, Mr. Albright asked Woodbury, "All of 
the documents and evidence, that was you, correct?" Woodbury responded, "Yes, I 
was trying to manipulate you into giving me the death penalty." Mr. Albright 
inquired as to the reason of Woodbury providing not being able to see a sick 
cancer-ridden father, to which Woodbury revealed, "My father is in perfect 
health and not dying of cancer." Woodbury testified, "95 % of that video was to 
manipulate you for what is going on in court right now." His final statements 
under oath were, "I believe all rapists and child molesters should die. I 
wanted him (Haynes) to be hurt so bad, he would have to go to the hospital and 
I would not have to worry about him coming back."

As of October 2016, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that jury recommendations 
for the sentence of death were to be done unanimously, not by majority vote. 
The sentence of death verdict rendered by the jury during the penalty phase 
proceeding is advisory - which means that the judge presiding over the penalty 
phase proceeding ultimately determines the sentence, and can "override" the 
jury's recommendation if determined. It is rare that a penalty phase judge 
enters a sentence which is different than the jury's recommendation.

Both the penalty phase judge and jury are required by statute to base their 
sentencing determinations on the consideration of aggravating and mitigating 
circumstances.

Pursuant to Florida Statute 921.141(4), in all cases in which the death penalty 
is imposed, the judgment of conviction and sentence of death shall be subject 
to automatic review by the Supreme Court of Florida and disposition rendered 
within 2 years after the filing of a notice of appeal.

(source: Okeechobee News)






LOUISIANA:

Common sense should show death penalty in Louisiana would help prevent murders


There's a lot of talk currently about the death penalty in Louisiana. Gov. John 
Bel Edwards and Attorney General Jeff Landry are fighting over the issue. 
Edwards has accused Landry of "deliberately misrepresenting the fact about why 
the state will not resume the death penalty at least for another year." Landry 
accused Edwards of not seeking justice for our state's crime victims.

While justice is important for the families of crime victims, the real focus 
should be on potential future murder victims and whether the death penalty 
would prevent those killings. Common sense would dictate that if the death 
penalty were carried out in a timely, consistent manner, it would likely 
prevent some murders. Few criminals are immune to the fear of being executed.

The state recently decided not to fight a lawsuit over which drugs to use for 
lethal execution. The state asked a judge to extend the ban on executions 
another year because of lethal injection drug shortages caused by 
pharmaceutical companies caving to pressure from anti-death penalty groups. 
Edwards agrees with the decision to not fight it out in court. The governor 
will not say whether he opposes the death penalty. Landry believes the state 
should fight the ban.

But the drug shortage is a distraction. There are dozens of ways to execute 
inmates short of firing squads or hangings. The drug shortage imposed by 
pharmaceutical companies is a red herring.

On a recent night, four people were shot in New Orleans East, including 2 
children. Last Monday, a man was shot to death in North Baton Rouge. So what's 
new? For 28 years, Louisiana has led the nation with the highest murder rate, 
according to the FBI. You are twice as likely to become a murder victim here 
than in the rest of the nation. In Baton Rouge, your chances of being killed 
are 6 times higher than the national average, and in New Orleans, the murder 
rate is seven times higher. But for some, the danger is much worse than the 
numbers show.

The truth is, most people living in Baton Rouge and New Orleans feel safe in 
their neighborhoods. Most murders in the state's two largest cities are 
concentrated in a few areas. The murder rate in these neighborhoods, where 
bringing in body bags is a way of life, must be staggering. The forgotten 
law-abiding citizens living in these dangerous neighborhoods know all there is 
about fear. And yet a very small group is responsible for the terror that's 
ever-present in these crime-ridden neighborhoods. Our leaders owe it to the 
law-abiding citizens living there to do something. One of the things they could 
do is fight for the right to execute dangerous, violent, murdering criminals.

An unacceptable percentage of the murders in these neighborhoods go unsolved. 
In north Baton Rouge, 2 out of 3 murders go unsolved, according to the 
Washington Post. In New Orleans, only 39 % of cases involving minority homicide 
victims end in an arrest. Yet 50 % of murders with a white victim result in an 
arrest. It's clear the state has not prioritized making these dangerous 
neighborhoods safe. Can you imagine if violent crime broke out in affluent 
neighborhoods to the degree it does in north Baton Rouge or in New Orleans East 
how quickly the necessary resources would be allocated to stop it? Politicians 
know full well where their bread is buttered.

If the state were serious about executing violent criminals, then it would 
prioritize, whether in the courts or by legislation, bringing back the death 
penalty to Louisiana. It's been 8 years since the state executed anyone. And 
yet last year alone, 23 inmates were executed in the U.S. on death row. 14 
inmates were executed this year, with 14 more scheduled to die in 2018.

Anti-capital punishment groups, aided by activist judges, will invent any 
excuse to stop the death penalty, but the state should fight such efforts. We 
owe it to the forgotten people living in our state's most dangerous 
neighborhoods. They deserve the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of 
happiness. That's difficult when you have to deal with the all-too-often sound 
of bullets whizzing by.

(source: Dan Fagan, The Advocate)






NEBRASKA:

Chambers challenges Pfizer to stop any use of its drugs in execution


The letter begins: TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.

With that, Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers challenged a major drug company to use the 
courts to block use of any of its drugs that may be used in the scheduled 
execution of condemned Nebraska prisoner Carey Dean Moore.

Chambers sent the letter Friday to a Pfizer pharmaceutical company executive in 
an effort to persuade him to go beyond Pfizer's request to the Nebraska 
Department of Correctional Services for return of any lethal injection drugs 
manufactured by the company.

Another drug company, Alvogen, successfully filed a legal objection in Nevada 
this month to stop one of its drugs from being used in an execution. A judge 
blocked the use of its sedative midazolam from being used in the scheduled 
execution of Scott Raymond Dozier.

"Does Pfizer's desire to protect its integrity, good name and public image rise 
to the level of Alvogen's?" Chambers asked Robert Jones, Pfizer vice president 
of government affairs.

Moore is scheduled to die by lethal injection Aug. 14 and has been informed 
that four drugs, never before used in an execution in this combination, are to 
be administered to put him to death. They are fentanyl, diazepam, cisatracurium 
besylate and potassium chloride.

Jones sent a letter to Nebraska Corrections Director Scott Frakes in October 
asking for the return of any Pfizer products to be used for capital punishment.

The letter from Jones informed the department that diazepam and fentanyl had 
been added to the company's list of 11 restricted products from lethal 
injection for capital punishment. He requested the return of any restricted use 
Pfizer or Hospira products in the department's possession.

"Pfizer makes its products to enhance and save the lives of the patients we 
serve," Jones said in the letter. "Consistent with these values, Pfizer 
strongly objects to use of its products as lethal injections for capital 
punishment."

Nebraska, like some other states, has shrouded the source of its lethal 
injection drugs in secrecy, Chambers told Jones in the letter. ACLU of 
Nebraska, the Lincoln Journal Star and the Omaha World Herald have sued the 
state to compel it to reveal the sources of the drugs.

A Lancaster County District judge has ordered the state to release records of 
communications with its lethal injection drug suppliers, as well as several 
other documents related to Nebraska's efforts to carry out the death penalty.

The court found certain other documents were exempt from disclosure under a 
state law protecting the identities of members of the state's execution team, 
including purchase orders and chemical analysis reports.

The department appealed the decision and no records were released, so the 
source of the four drugs is still unknown.

In his letter, Chambers told Jones it was a puzzling fact that Pfizer had not 
initiated any legal action in Nebraska to force the department to return its 
drugs.

"The courts are open for business, as demonstrated by Alvogen; and I am 
confident that the judicial system will give serious, expeditious consideration 
to the goal of maintaining intact and unblemished and uncompromised by others 
Pfizer's declared mission and purpose -- 'to enhance and save the lives of 
patients' -- if you but initiate appropriate legal proceedings," Chambers 
wrote.

He questioned Pfizer's will to employ its "standing and legal wherewithal" to 
protect its interests in this situation.

Chambers said it might be understandable if a cynic were to suggest that Pfizer 
is being disingenuous and calculatingly trying to have it both ways, to stave 
off accusations of being complicit in executions, but by taking no legal action 
managing to continue active participation in the capital punishment market.

"What is Pfizer's good name worth?" he asked.

Jones, or a representative of Pfizer, could not be reached immediately for 
comment.

(source: Lincoln Journal Star)

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

State must show Moore mercy, not perpetuate more death


It has been 39 years since the murders of 2 Omaha cab drivers. The lives of 2 
men were callously ended. 2 families were deprived of their loved ones. Our 
community lost 2 citizens.

When asked his thoughts about the scheduled execution of Carey Dean Moore, 
Steve Helgeland, the son of Maynard Helgeland who was shot and killed by Moore 
in August of 1979, said, "I have no interest in watching him die. It's not 
going to do anything for me."

We agree.

As women who have joined communities of Catholic religious sisters serving in 
Nebraska to spread the Gospel by teaching and example, we don???t see anything 
to be gained by executing an inmate who has been safely incarcerated by our 
prison system for decades. The state-sponsored killing of an individual, even 
one convicted of the heinous crime of murder, contributes to the cycle of 
violence that is endemic in our society.

Through our histories and our service to the people of Nebraska, we have 
striven to be educators, healers and advocates for the vulnerable members of 
our community.

We call on the state to do the same: to show mercy and true justice by 
foregoing another violent and senseless killing. We also pray for healing and 
comfort for the victims of violence and for a change of heart and behavior for 
those who perpetrate such violence.

Margaret Hickey, Omaha

President, Notre Dame Sisters

Mary Gehringer, Omaha

Prioress, Servants of Mary

Susan Sanders, Omaha

President, Sisters of Mercy West Midwest Community

(source: Letter to the Editor, Lincoln Journal Star)






NEVADA:

Time, cost of Nevada death-penalty cases sparks debate


Nevada's death penalty is designed for the kind of criminal accusations Jasper 
Goddard faces.

Multiple aggravating circumstances are readily apparent. Local prosecutors 
allege Goddard kidnapped, raped and killed a 7-year-old North Las Vegas girl on 
a November night in 1986.

April Rhodes was discovered lying in a pool of blood in the storage room of a 
housing complex not far from her home. She had been beaten to death with a 
cinder block after being taken from her bed in the middle of the night, 
according to police. She was still wearing her nightgown.

By June 2013, when Goddard was arrested for the crime during a routine traffic 
stop in Ozark, Missouri, he had already served prison time for the sodomy of an 
8-year-old girl.

Goddard has pleaded not guilty and is expected to go to trial in the near 
future. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said he has strong 
evidence, including Goddard's DNA on April's body and a confession to the 
crime.

"Guilt is pretty straightforward," Wolfson said. "This case is all about 
penalty."

With that sort of evidence against him, it might seem irrelevant that Goddard 
is willing to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without 
parole.

But his case underscores a debate between prosecutors and public defenders. 
Does the time and resources it takes to secure the death penalty, and guide it 
through the appeals process, make the punishment ineffective in some cases?

Goddard's defense attorney says the prosecution's pursuit to execute the now 
67-year-old man is "a futile waste of time and money." Even if Goddard is 
sentenced to death by lethal injection, his attorney said the appeals process 
will likely last at least a decade.

"They're choosing the pathway that is most costly, most time consuming and it 
leads to the same place, which is him dying in prison of natural causes," 
public defender Christy Craig said.

Wolfson sees it differently. Had Goddard been caught right after April's 
murder, he likely would have faced the death penalty at a much younger age.

"Should he be rewarded for escaping justice for 25 years?" Wolfson asked.

Cost of capital cases

Wolfson announced he would seek the death penalty against Goddard in January 
2014.

Under a Nevada Supreme Court rule, Craig began preparing to argue both her 
client's innocence and that his life should be spared from execution.

That meant piecing together an exhaustive biography of Goddard's life: 
Interviewing family members living outside Nevada, tracking down the foster 
children he once shared a home with, going back 2 generations in his family to 
search for any signs of mental illness.

Some family members are expected to be flown into Las Vegas to testify about 
Goddard should a jury consider sentencing him to death.

"Any fact of this man's life that could convince a jury that death is not the 
appropriate punishment is something we have to look for and present," Craig 
said. "And if we don't find it and someone does later on appeal, then we'll 
have to do it all over again and the state will have to pay for it."

That kind of research comes with a hefty price. A 2014 state audit estimated 
that capital cases in Nevada where the death sentence is handed down but not 
executed cost an average of $1.3 million. Non-capital murder cases had an 
average estimated cost of $775,000.

Since the state's death penalty was reinstated in 1977, all 12 men killed by 
the state stopped pursuing their legal options to prevent their execution, 
according to public defender Scott Coffee. Another 12 people on death row have 
died of natural causes, and Nevada has not executed anyone against their will 
in more than 20 years.

"If (Goddard) was 25 I wouldn't be having this discussion," Craig said. "It's a 
different calculus when the defendant is much younger."

Prosecution undecided

Wolfson said he has not decided whether he will ask a jury to sentence Goddard 
to death.

There's always the chance jurors would not agree the death penalty was 
warranted. But while the defense's plea offer may be a simpler, quicker way to 
resolve the case, Wolfson cautions against its apparent finality.

Jeremy Strohmeyer, who sexually assaulted and murdered a 7-year-old girl in a 
Primm casino restroom, avoided the death penalty in 1998 by accepting a 
sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Nevertheless, 
Strohmeyer - who has long argued he was pressured into taking the plea deal by 
his then-lawyers - was back in court this year seeking a a chance at parole.

A Las Vegas judge denied the request earlier this month. Strohmeyer's private 
attorney said he plans to appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.

As for the cost of Goddard's case, Wolfson argues that the public defender's 
office has spent the vast majority of the time and money needed to craft 
Goddard's defense. He also questions whether time and cost should be a factor 
into determining justice.

"My job is to enforce the law," Wolfson said. "So I think I have the 
responsibility to seek the death penalty in a limited number of cases, and I 
do."

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

Clark County sends many to death row, but executions are rare


Las Vegas sits in the heart of a death penalty triangle.

While Nevada has struggled to execute a condemned killer who volunteered for 
his sentence to be carried out and as other parts of the country move away from 
capital punishment, Clark County jurors handed down the 2nd most death 
sentences of any county in the United States last year.

Of the 39 ultimate penalties imposed across the country in 2017, 31 % were 
delivered in 3 southwest counties, according to the Death Penalty Information 
Center. Riverside County in California issued 5, Clark County issued 4 and 
Maricopa County in Arizona issued three. The entire state of Texas handed down 
4 death sentences last year, while the rest of the country imposed 23.

In Riverside, considered the leader in California's death penalty, there are 15 
pending capital cases, compared with at least 60 in Clark County. The 2 
counties have nearly identical populations.

Top Clark County prosecutor Steve Wolfson has pursued the death penalty in 71 
cases since he took office in 2012. Those numbers have been on the rise in 
recent years, with his office filing notices of intent to seek the death 
penalty 8 times this year, 16 times in 2017, and 14 times in 2016. In his 1st 
year in office, Wolfson sought the death penalty in 5 cases.

This year, a Las Vegas jury sentenced a 63-year-old man to die.

"We need to recognize that based upon what I've been told, a majority of 
Nevadans still favor the death penalty," Wolfson said. "The death penalty is 
still the law of the land."

Yet in Nevada, condemned prisoners are 4 times more likely to be taken off 
death row through the legal process than by execution. Since the state 
reinstated capital punishment in 1977, jurors have returned 189 death sentences 
for 160 people, including 140 times in 120 cases in Clark County. Nearly 1/2 of 
the state's death sentences - 92 - have been reversed. Among those, 51 people 
have been permanently removed from death row.

The future of executions

Still, in the midst of a close governor's race and with other legislative 
offices up for grabs, lawmakers are reluctant to discuss the future of 
executions in the state, which last put an inmate to death in 2006.

One assemblyman, criminal defense attorney Ozzie Fumo, says that in light of 
the state's 2nd failed attempt to execute Scott Dozier earlier this month, a 
bill to abolish the death penalty needs to be introduced in the next 
legislative session.

"It's time to change," Fumo said. "It's an absolute waste of money."

Gubernatorial candidate Steve Sisolak has qualified his opinion on the death 
penalty. He once opposed capital punishment outright. But when reached for 
comment, he directed a reporter to his campaign secretary, who delivered this 
statement, without further explanation: "Steve does not support the use of the 
death penalty except for in extreme cases."

His opponent, Attorney General Adam Laxalt, also through a spokesman, 
criticized Sisolak for changing his stance. Laxalt's office represents the 
Nevada Department of Corrections, which is in the midst of appealing a Las 
Vegas judge's July 11 decision that essentially halted Dozier's execution hours 
before he was scheduled to die.

"Adam supports the death penalty, especially for dangerous criminals guilty of 
horrific, gruesome crimes like Scott Dozier," the spokesman wrote in an email. 
"Adam has been unequivocal on his position on this."

But he did not respond to questions about whether he would look to change the 
laws on capital punishment if elected, given the struggles to execute Dozier, 
who was sentenced to die in 2007 after 1st-degree murder and robbery 
convictions in the slaying of Jeremiah Miller.

In court papers filed last week, the prison's lawyers contemplated how state 
lawmakers intended the death penalty to be carried out.

"Nevada's elected representatives have chosen lethal injection as the State's 
method of execution and have authorized the Nevada Department of Corrections to 
take all necessary steps to complete its lawful mandate," the appeal stated. 
"It is illogical to think that the Legislature approved lethal injection, on 
the one hand, yet silently created causes of action to impede the State's 
chosen method of execution, on the other."

The Clark County District Attorney's office joined the appeal on Friday.

Defense attorney Scott Coffee, who represents those facing the death penalty 
and has studied capital punishment across the country, pointed out that support 
for executions has waned in recent years.

A 2017 Gallup poll reported that 55 % of Americans favored the death penalty, 
down from a reported 60 % in 2016.

"The majority of voters don't understand how big of a mess the process is and 
how broken the system is," Coffee said. "1 of the things that's critical about 
a case like Dozier is that it exposes the weaknesses in the system ... I'd like 
to fly like Iron Man, but I can't do it. And the reality is the death penalty 
certainly has no flight to it."

He added: "It's not really whether you believe in the death penalty. We can 
debate that. But do you want a death penalty in name only? Because that's what 
we've got. The system's broken, and it's been broken for a long time."

A broken system?

With 79 men on death row in the state, it's unlikely that anyone who is 
sentenced to death will be killed at Ely's $860,000 chamber without first 
waiving his appeals. Of the last 12 people executed in Nevada since 1977, 11 
have been deemed "volunteers," like Dozier. In 1996, triple murderer Richard 
Moran was executed against his will, but his sentence had been handed down by a 
3-judge panel, which has since been ruled unconstitutional.

"In Nevada, the only people we execute are people who have volunteered," Coffee 
said. "And even that's becoming more and more difficult and costly; just look 
at Dozier."

Chief Deputy District Attorney Giancarlo Pesci, who prosecuted Dozier and 
several other murderers who now sit on death row, weighed the efficacy of 
lethal injection.

"We should be pursuing at least the idea of other avenues to be able to impose 
the sentence," such as a firing squad, which was reinstated as an execution 
method in Utah 3 years ago, Pesci said.

"There are some crimes that are so disgustingly heinous that there has to be a 
punishment above and beyond all the others," he said. "To me, an appropriate 
ultimate punishment is death. That's not being sought in every case. It's being 
sought in cases where defendants have done abhorrent things to people."

As an assemblyman, Tick Segerblom, of Las Vegas, supported legislation to 
abolish the death penalty, which failed in 2017 without a vote. He said he 
envisions lawmakers abolishing the punishment altogether, though he 
acknowledged that's an "uphill battle" in Nevada, even as it's been nearly 2 
years since Dozier asked to be put to death.

"We feel like it's just a matter of time," Segerblom, a candidate for Clark 
County Commission, said. "It's a little ironic that the death penalty in Nevada 
is so poor that we can't even kill someone who wants to be killed."

Chief Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Vanboskerk, who authored the motion to 
support the prison system's appeal, said that Dozier's jury verdict is simply 
not being carried out. "The DA's office is concerned about the impact of this 
civil suit upon the jury's verdict because the jury's role in our criminal 
process is bedrock and central," Vanboskerk said. "And that it can be 
frustrated in such a collateral matter is of great concern."

(source for both: Las Vegas Review-Journal)