[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ILL., KY., NEB., COLO., CALIF., USA

[Rick Halperin]

May 16



ILLINOIS:

Illinois governor seeks to reinstate death penalty for mass murderers, cop 
killers

8 years after Illinois abolished the death penalty, the state's Republican 
governor on Monday proposed reinstating the punishment for mass killers and 
people who gun down police officers. Gov. Bruce Rauner tied the death penalty 
plan to gun restrictions favored by Democrats who control the Legislature - 
inserting it into legislation that lengthens the waiting period for taking 
possession of rifles or shotguns from 24 hours to 72 hours, and adding other 
limits on firearms possession.

"I don't believe that this is anything other than very good policy, widely 
supported by the people of Illinois," Rauner said of the death penalty proposal 
while at the Illinois State Police forensic laboratory in Chicago. "These 
individuals who commit mass murder, individuals who choose to murder a law 
enforcement officer, they deserve to have their life taken."

The last execution to be carried out in Illinois was in 1999, before Republican 
Gov. George Ryan issued a moratorium and later emptied death row, believing the 
system too fraught with mistakes to be tenable. Illinois had executed 12 people 
in the decades since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 
1976, but 13 people had been freed because of questions about their guilt. 
Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn officially abolished the death penalty in 2011.

Rauner, an unpopular first-term governor facing a tough road to re-election in 
November, used his amendatory veto authority to add capital punishment and 
other provisions to the gun bill, including a ban on bump stocks, the 
rifle-firing speed accessory used in a mass shooting in Las Vegas last year. He 
also proposed giving the courts the authority to take guns from people deemed 
dangerous.

Democrats pushed back. Senate President John Cullerton of Chicago said in a 
statement that "the death penalty should never be used as a political tool to 
advance one's agenda."

"Doing so is in large part why we had so many problems and overturned 
convictions," Cullerton said.

Democrats have introduced several proposals to curb gun violence - in response 
not only to mass shootings elsewhere in the U.S. but also because of the Feb. 
13 fatal shooting in downtown Chicago of police Commander Paul Bauer.

The bill now goes back to the House. For Rauner's plan to become law, the 
Legislature must approve his changes. If lawmakers do not act, the whole 
package will expire without becoming law. The Legislature could also vote to 
override Rauner's changes and enact the original waiting-period language.

Steve Brown, spokesman for House Democrats, said the first task will be to 
determine whether Rauner exceeded his authority. The Illinois Constitution says 
the governor may send a bill back "with specific recommendations for change," 
and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan has repeatedly taken a narrow view 
of that power.

Rep. Jonathan Carroll, a Northbrook Democrat and House sponsor of the original 
measure, would not comment Monday, saying he needed time to examine Rauner's 
action.

Rauner's proposal would allow a jury to impose the death penalty only in cases 
where someone is found guilty "beyond all doubt" - a higher standard than the 
constitutionally guaranteed "reasonable doubt" requirement for most criminal 
cases. He told reporters that would eliminate cause for concern, noting that 
"so many times, the person is caught in the act" or "there are multiple 
witnesses, and they're fleeing the act."

But Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center 
in Washington, D.C., said Illinois is rife with examples of recanted eyewitness 
testimony and confessions beaten out of suspects by police. Dunham, whose 
organization is officially neutral on the death penalty but often criticizes 
its application, said a "beyond all doubt" standard would still be open to 
interpretation.

"Illinois' death penalty history showed how arbitrary and unreliable the death 
sentence was and how susceptible it was to official misconduct," Dunham said. 
"Any suggestion that it should be brought back without a full public discussion 
and full public hearings is incredibly reckless."

(source: Associated Press)

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

Emanuel on Rauner death penalty revival: "I'm speechless"



Mayor Emanuel says he's speechless about Governor Rauner's desire to bring back 
the death penalty for mass murderers and cop killers.

Emanuel says Springfield stood strong when it repealed the death penalty and 
Rauner wanting to bring it back has this effect on him.

"Guys, I don't even know how to respond to this. I'm speechless!", he said in a 
classroom, literally, with a stopped clock, "On morning without speaking to 
anybody after the State of Illinois had a big discussion, led the country to 
ban the death penalty for a whole host of appropriate reasons, and then say 
here's what I want without consulting or working with anybody."

Translation? Rahm thinks Rauner's move is pure politics.

(source: WLS-AM news)








KENTUCKY:

Attorney to seek death penalty for Pikeville officer's murder suspect



The Commonwealth's Attorney working the murder case of Pikeville officer Scotty 
Hamilton is going to seek the death penalty.

Sister station WYMT reports attorney Rick Bartley said he will file the 
paperwork for the death penalty against John Russell Hall.

Police say Hall shot and killed Scotty Hamilton in March while the officer was 
assisting troopers with an investigation in the Hurricane Creek area. He was 
arrested Thursday and pleaded not guilty to murder Friday.

A judge entered a not guilty plea for Hall after he was captured.

(source: WKYT news)








NEBRASKA:

Limits on info about death penalty drugs challanged during trial



A district court judge will decide if the Nebraska Department of Correctional 
Services (NDCS) withheld too much information about the drugs it intends to use 
for lethal injection executions and the process it uses to make the purchase.

Prison officials insist it does so for the safety of prison employees.

During a brief trial Monday afternoon Lancaster County District Judge Jodi 
Nelson heard arguments the director of the state's prison system violated the 
state's open records law by failing to turn over documents requested by the 
Nebraska Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the state's 2 
largest newspapers. All three filed separate lawsuits after having open records 
requests denied by director Scott Frakes.

Documents requested included purchase orders and invoices from the still 
unknown supplier of the pharmaceuticals. Letters and emails between the 
supplier and the department, chemical analysis testing, contacts with the U.S. 
Drug Enforcement Administration, and photos of the drug containers were also 
requested last year. Corrections refused the bulk of the requests.

During testimony, it was acknowledged similar requests had been granted prior 
to 2017 by NDCS and former Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning. Last year 
Frakes began routinely denying such requests.

The ACLU, Omaha World Herald and Lincoln Journal Star argued state government, 
byway of the open records law. has an obligation to disclose the costs and 
suppliers of the drugs.

The Nebraska Attorney General, representing the Department of Corrections, 
claimed revealing the supplier of the drugs risks identifying members of 
execution team, even if their names and related information is stricken from 
public copies. State law was recently changed to forbid disclosure of the names 
of those carrying out the capital sentence.

Attorney Ryan Post also told the court information in the records would likely 
be used by opponents as a "backdoor effort" to obstruct the death penalty in 
Nebraska.

Judge Nelson will consider both the state's request the case be dismissed as 
being without merit and, if electing to proceeding, rule as to whether the 
government records should be released to the public, by way of the 
organizations who made the original open records request.

(source: netnebraska.org)








COLORADO:

Former Soldier Flings Laptop in Courtroom During Death Penalty Trial



A Colorado Springs man facing the death penalty hurled a laptop across the 
courtroom Monday before opening remarks at his trial, disrupting the start of 
El Paso County's `st capital case in 10 years.

The outburst by Glen Law Galloway, 46, occurred during a closed session, 
outside the presence of the jury and the public, and led the judge to 
temporarily eject the defendant from his own trial.

Galloway, an ex-Fort Carson soldier accused in back-to-back slayings in May 
2016, missed the prosecution's opening statement but was permitted to return 
for the defense's remarks -- this time wearing restraints.

"No one's gonna talk to me now, or what?" he said as he settled back in at the 
defense table amid stony silence from his court-appointed public defenders.

Galloway, with close-cropped gray hair, was in an orange jail jumpsuit, having 
refused to wear a suit. The judge said he will leave it to Galloway what he 
wishes to wear each day.

The rocky start came in a trial that officially began March 5, with 2 months of 
questioning during which a field of 3,000 county residents was winnowed to a 
jury panel of 18, including six alternates. Testimony is expected to last 6 
weeks. If the jury convicts Galloway, it must decide whether to impose life in 
prison or death -- a process that also could take weeks.

County prosecutors last sought the death penalty in 2008 against cop killer 
Marco Lee, who pleaded guilty in exchange for a sentence of life in prison plus 
167 years.

Galloway's jury -- 10 men and 8 women -- wasn't present for discussions about 
his outburst or the enhanced courtroom security that resulted.

Galloway had asked the judge for a "conflict hearing," which usually indicates 
an irreconcilable dispute between a defendant and his defense team.

After the judge refused his request for new representation, the defendant 
grabbed a laptop belonging to deputy public defender Julian Rosielle, one of 
his attorneys, and threw it across the room, "narrowly missing my court 
reporter," 4th Judicial District Judge Gregory Werner said in recounting the 
incident on the record before the jury returned.

Galloway has a history of trying to "control" how his trial will be conducted, 
Werner said, echoing a theme -- control -- that ran through both opening 
statements.

Prosecutor Reggy Short portrayed Galloway as a man who refused to be 
constrained by the law as he sought grisly revenge against his ex-girlfriend, 
Janice Nam, 26. After being convicted of stalking her in late 2015, Galloway 
cut off an ankle bracelet and went into hiding -- resurfacing for an alleged 
killing spree over Memorial Day weekend in 2016.

First he fatally shot friend Marcus Anderson, 57, on May 29 inside a unit at 
Century Street Self Storage on North El Paso Street in central Colorado 
Springs, intent on securing his silence, Short said.

Ten hours later, on May 30, he used Anderson's sport-utility vehicle to sneak 
into Nam's neighborhood, allegedly forced his way into her east side house in 
the 6000 block of Miramont Street as she slept and killed her with 2 gunshots 
to the head as she lay in bed. The deadly home invasion lasted less than a 
minute, authorities said.

In his opening remarks, Short held up Nam's bedroom door and displayed the 
large hole where Galloway allegedly kicked it in.

"This barrier, like so many others over a 2-year period, failed Janice," Short 
said, describing how Nam also sought a restraining order against Galloway.

But deputy public defender Kim Chalmers offered a different spin on control. 
She said Galloway "lost control over his mind and actions" after being forced 
to kill Anderson in self-defense, telling the panel that a meth-addicted 
Anderson had stolen Galloway's gun and threatened him with it.

In a state of "emotional despair," Chalmers said, Galloway went to Nam's home 
the next day and killed her.

"After it sunk in what he had done, he turned himself in," she said. Galloway 
walked to a check-in window at the county jail May 31, carting 2 backpacks, 1 
containing the weapon used in the shootings.

Prosecutors say they will prove their case relying in part on video from the 
home surveillance system that Nam purchased after the restraining order failed 
to keep Galloway from harassing her.

Short described extensive forensic evidence linking Galloway to the crimes, and 
he asked the jury to hold Galloway accountable where previous efforts to 
constrain him had failed.

Chalmers conceded that Galloway shot both people but said he didn't have a 
culpable mental state.

She said Galloway lost control when Nam grew upset over his infidelity and 
launched a campaign of lies against him, costing him his job at Atmel Corp., a 
former Colorado Springs semiconductor manufacturer, and causing him to be 
convicted of serious crimes he didn't commit.

Galloway was an Army sergeant, serving as a scout and helicopter mechanic, from 
1991 to 1997, records show. He served in Hawaii for 3 years and was transferred 
to the 4th Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Carson before being 
honorably discharged.

Galloway and Nam met at Atmel Corp., where he worked in maintenance and she on 
the assembly line.

The 1st witness called to the stand Tuesday was Isabelle Wolfe, Nam's sister. 
She recounted how she went to Nam's house May 30 after her text messages went 
unanswered -- and walked in to find shattered glass from a rear sliding door 
and a hammer resting in a dog bowl.

Bloody paw prints from Nam's 2 dogs led to the bedroom, where Wolfe found her 
sister slumped in her bed, cold to the touch, she said through tears.

(source: military.com)








CALIFORNIA:

Former Marine accused of SoCal murder spree faces death penalty



Closing arguments began this week for a former Marine who is accused of 
murdering 5 women while stationed at Camp Pendleton and Twentynine Palms.

Andrew Urdiales, 53, could be sentenced to death if he is convicted of 
1st-degree murder charges in an Orange County courtroom. He's accused in a 
murder spree in Orange, San Diego and Riverside counties that started in 
January of 1986 and continued through 1995.

While a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, prosecutors say Urdiales took a 
hunting knife and went cruising for a victim. They say he attacked a 
23-year-old student at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo. Police say Urdiales 
confessed to stabbing her more than 40 times.

Prosecutors say Urdiales, while stationed at Twentynine Palms, shot and killed 
4 more women, including Mary Ann Wells, a 31-year-old prostitute from San 
Diego, whose body was found in an abandoned warehouse.

In 1997, Urdiales was arrested in Illinois. He was convicted for murdering 3 
women there. In 2011 he was transferred to California to be tried for the 5 
murders here.

(source: fox5sandiego.com)








USA:

Trump Says Cop Killers Should Receive Death Penalty During Speech At National 
Peace Officers??? Memorial Service----"Today, every American heart bleeds 
blue," the president declared.



In remarks delivered during the annual National Peace Officers' Memorial 
Service at the the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington this morning, President 
Donald Trump called for the death penalty for criminals who kill police 
officers, particularly in view of ambush attacks that have occurred across the 
country.

"We believe criminals who kill our police should get the death penalty - bring 
it forth," the president said, CBS News reported, in a statement apparently 
directed at the U.S. Justice Department and Congress.

Trump emphasized law and order and his strong support for cops, border patrol 
agents, and other law enforcement officers when he campaigned for the White 
House.

The president and other dignitaries honored the nearly 200 officers who died in 
the line of duty last year at today's ceremony. Commenting on the fallen 
officers, Trump told their younger family members that, "Your moms and dads 
were among the bravest Americans to ever live."

While there is a federal death penalty on the books that applies in some 
egregious circumstances, most violent crime is committed within state borders 
and where federal law is uninvolved. State laws vary about imposing the death 
penalty, which has been abolished in some of those jurisdictions where it 
previously existed, and replaced by life imprisonment without parole for those 
convicted of 1st-degree murder.

Trump began his remarks by providing the attendees and those watching at home 
with an update on the condition of first lady Melania Trump, who is 
recuperating in the hospital from kidney surgery. The president said that she 
is doing fine and thanked the attending physicians at Walter Reed Medical 
Center for the care they rendered.

President Trump's speech included honoring some of the fallen officers by name. 
A particular emotional moment occurred when, in an impromptu manner, he asked 
the family of the late NYPD Detective Miosotis Familia, including her 
90-year-old mother, to come to the stage.

The NYPD officer who was with Det. Familia on patrol when she was shot and 
killed also spoke briefly. "Familia was executed while sitting in an NYPD cop 
car by a mentally disturbed gunman with anti-cop views," the Daily Caller 
recalled about the 12-year police veteran.

After the event, Trump was scheduled to meet with Capitol Hill lawmakers to 
discuss the status of the remaining initiatives on his 2018 legislative agenda, 
which perhaps may also include the death penalty for cop killers.

(source: inquisitr.com)

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

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sentenced to death 3 years ago, where is he now?



-- Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death on May 15, 2015

-- He is currently on death row in a Colorado maximum security prison

-- He cannot speak to anyone

-- His friend just got out of prison and resides in Philadelphia



Dzhokhar Anzorovich "Jahar" Tsarnaev, otherwise known as The Boston Bomber was 
sentenced to death 3 years ago today but has yet to be executed.

He was convicted and sentenced to death in 2015 for his role in the bombing 
near the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon. Tsarnaev is appealing his 
federal death penalty conviction. (All death penalty convictions are 
automatically appealed.)

Tsarnaev now sits in a prison cell in the United States Penitentiary, 
Administrative Maximum Facility in Colorado - a federal supermax otherwise 
known as the "Alcatraz of the Rockies."

Oddly, Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has warned the US of the "gravest 
consequences" if Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev or any other Muslim 
prisoner is executed.

"If the US administration kills our brother the hero Dzhokhar Tsarnaev or any 
Muslim," Zawahri said in an online video, "[it] will bring America's nationals 
the gravest consequences."

It could be a few years when Tsarnaev exhausts his options for appeal and is 
scheduled to be put to death, or it could be more than a decade more. As it 
stands now, as The Economist detailed in 2014, far more people leave death row 
by dying of old age than they do by actual execution. Even more shockingly, 70 
death row inmates were exonerated in 2011, while only 43 were put to death.

Now, Tsarnaev's prison stay comes with uniquely extreme confinement conditions 
called Special Administrative Measures (SAMs). He can't speak, literally.

Essentially a form of solitary confinement, SAMs prevent inmates from 
communicating with all but a few pre-approved individuals. Tsarnaev is not even 
allowed to communicate with other inmates in the facility.

Terrorist's Buddy Released Last Month

The 2nd of 3 college buddies convicted for their roles in covering up for 
Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is getting out of prison.

The Boston Herald reports that 24-year-old Robel Phillipos is scheduled to be 
released Monday from a residential re-entry management program in Philadelphia.

Phillipos was convicted in 2015 of lying to authorities investigating the 2013 
bombing that killed 3 people and injured more than 260.

(source: yc.news)