[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., FLA., LA., TENN., IND.

[Rick Halperin]

September 25




PENNSYLVANIA:

Jury Selection Slated in Death Penalty Trial in 2013 Slaying



Jury selection is slated for the death penalty trial of a man charged in a 
slaying during an alleged effort to steal guns from a safe in a western 
Pennsylvania home almost 6 years ago.

24-year-old Brandon Wolowski is charged with homicide, attempted homicide, 
aggravated assault and robbery in the January 2013 death of 37-year-old Matthew 
Mathias and the wounding of his girlfriend in Washington, Pennsylvania.

The (Washington) Observer-Reporter reports that prosecutors plan to seek 
capital punishment if Wolowski is convicted of 2st-degree murder. They said he 
rejected a plea deal calling for a 40- to 80-year term.

Defense attorney Noah Geary argued unsuccessfully that Wolowski, 18 at the time 
of the crime, should have been treated as a juvenile due to alleged fetal 
alcohol syndrome and a learning disability.

(source: Associated Press)








FLORIDA----new death sentence

Judge sides with jury: Death for Woodbury



A Florida judge has agreed with a jury that previously decided that Michael 
Woodbury, the former Mainer who shot and killed 3 people in Conway in 2007 and 
who recently pleaded guilty to murdering a fellow inmate in a Florida prison 
deserves the death penalty.

The case next will go to the State Supreme Court.

Woodbury has been serving a life sentence without parole in Florida since 2009. 
He killed a fellow Florida inmate last year.

The two-day penalty phase took place in July at the Okeechobee County 
Courthouse with Judge Sherwood Bauer presiding.

In July, Assistant State Attorney for Florida's 19th Judicial Circuit Ashley 
Albright told the Sun that Bauer could either follow the jury's recommendation 
or give Woodbury life in prison.

A so-called Spencer hearing was held Friday, Sept. 21.

"The judge pronounced a sentence of death," said Albright in an email to the 
Sun. He added: "Woodbury gave me the peace sign as he was walking out of the 
courtroom."

The pronouncement was issued by Judge Bauer orally, and a written order will be 
issued within 30 days.

Albright explained that in Florida there is an automatic appeal to the state's 
Supreme Court for anyone who has been sentenced to death. He predicted it would 
take years for Woodbury to be executed.

According to Okeechobee News reporter, Matteo Tullio, Woodbury, 42, formerly of 
Windham, Maine, pleaded guilty May 21 to 1st-degree premeditated murder in the 
beating death with a padlock of fellow inmate Antoneeze Haynes on Sept. 22, 
2017, at Okeechobee Correctional Institution. The plea came on day 3 of his 
trial.

Longtime Conway residents will remember July 2, 2007, as the day when Woodbury, 
then 31, walked into the Army Barracks store at 347 White Mountain Highway and 
shot store manager James Walker, 34, and 2 customers from Massachusetts, 
William Jones, 25, and Gary Jones, 23.

Walker and William Jones died at the scene, and Gary Jones died later at Maine 
Medical Center. The two Joneses were not related but were close friends who had 
been camping in Maine.

The 2 campers walked in on Woodbury and apparently tried to halt his bid to 
steal a car.

The day after the shootings, Woodbury gave himself up to a Fryeburg, Maine, 
patrol officer in a forested stretch of railbed in that town.

He later pleaded guilty to those killings.

(source: conwaydailysun.com)

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

State attorney's office to remain on double murder case



Michael Lamar Woods is charged with 2 counts of 1st-degree murder in the 2010 
deaths of Marshall Pardee and Chyavana Hampton. He is facing the death penalty.

The 5th Circuit State Attorney's Office will continue to prosecute a 2010 
double murder trial despite defense attorneys' argument that past 
correspondence shows bias and potential for the office to conspire with Ocala 
police to cover up evidence of a 2nd defendant.

Fifth Circuit Judge Steve Rogers entered an order dated Sept. 23 denying the 
defense's motion to disqualify. The one-paragraph order states that the judge 
considered the motion and arguments attorneys made during a hearing last week, 
but does not specifically state why he denied the motion.

Defense attorneys Tania Alavi and Terry Lenamon requested the office be 
disqualified after they received copies of email correspondence between Chief 
Assistant State Attorney Ric Ridgway and Ocala Police Chief Greg Graham related 
to the death of a police officer during firearms training in 2015. Although the 
email correspondence - described by Ridgway as attorney-client communication - 
has nothing to do with the double murder trial, Alavi and Lenamon argued it 
shows bias and potential for both agencies to conspire to cover up a lackluster 
investigation into a potential additional suspect.

Alavi and Lenamon represent Michael Lamar Woods, 35, who is charged with 2 
counts of 1st-degree murder with a firearm in the 2010 deaths of Marshall 
Pardee, 23, and Chyavana Hampton, 20. He is facing the death penalty.

Woods already is serving a life sentence for the 2007 murder of Toni Centracco, 
20.

At last week's hearing, Lenamon said he and his team have "substantial 
evidence" but no smoking gun showing either a cover-up or tempering with the 
investigation because of the relationship between Ridgway and Graham.

The defense argues that an investigation launched in 2017 did not follow 
protocol and fell short of expectations.

In a March 2017 deposition, a state witness told Lenamon and Assistant State 
Attorney Robin Arnold that a male friend of Woods told her he helped with the 
murders. He told her he had felt like he owed Woods for previous actions, 
according to a transcript of the deposition.

After the deposition, Lenamon and Arnold agreed that Arnold would approach the 
Ocala Police Department about re-opening the investigation to explore this new 
information.

About 16 months after the deposition, the defense received a report from the 
police department they thought fell short. Lenamon and Alavi argued the police 
officer asked to further investigate the information was not familiar with the 
original investigation and did not interview witnesses about the new discovered 
information.

They also argued that while the original investigation into the double murder 
was thorough, the re-opened investigation did not follow protocol.

Arnold argued that the defense's claims have no basis in fact. She said Ridgway 
does not supervise the office's homicide department so he has no direct control 
or input in the case. She added that although the witnesses' statement may have 
been new information, the alleged second suspect was checked out from the 
beginning of the original investigation.

Woods is scheduled to begin a month-long trial Oct. 29. But Lenamon warned 
Rogers that he may file a motion to continue in light of the new evidence.

Death penalty cases have 2 phases: guilt and penalty. In the guilt phase, a 
jury of 12 will decide whether Woods is guilty of 2 counts of 1st-degree 
murder. If he is found guilty, the same jury of 12 will then decide whether he 
will be sentenced to death or to life in prison without the possibility of 
parole. A vote for death must be unanimous.

Woods is 1 of 3 Marion County defendants facing the death penalty. He is 
scheduled to be back in court Oct. 17.

(source: ocala.com)








LOUISIANA:

Prosecutor: Mom asked girlfriend to burn 6-month-old baby



A Louisiana prosecutor says a mother accused in her infant son's death asked 
her girlfriend to kill the baby.

Hanna Nicole Barker is being held without bond. A judge ruled Friday that 
there's probable cause to charge her as a principal to murder in the death of 
6-month-old Levi Cole Ellerbee.

The Town Talk of Alexandria reports that defense attorney Dhu Thompson argued 
Friday in Natchitoches that the only evidence against Barker is a statement 
from the woman accused of setting the baby on fire. Thompson says Felicia 
Marie-Nicole Smith is just trying to get a better deal for herself.

Smith has been charged with 1st-degree murder, which can bring the death 
penalty.

Barker has not been indicted. A grand jury has heard the case against her.

(source: Associated Press)








TENNESSEE:

Judge appoints lawyers for men facing death penalty in gang racketeering case



A Hamilton County, Tennessee judge Monday appointed lawyers for 3 men who face 
the death penalty for allegedly kidnapping and then killing a state's witness 
in 2016 as part of the state's gang racketeering case.

Andre Grier, Courtney High and Charles Shelton could be sentenced to death if 
they're convicted in the May 2016 slaying of Bianca Horton. Prosecutors say the 
3 men kidnapped Horton from near her workplace, shuttled her into a van, killed 
her and then cleaned the evidence so the 26-year-old mother couldn't testify 
against Cortez Sims, who was then facing trial for a fatal 2015 shooting that 
also injured Horton and paralyzed her baby.

All three are being held on $1.5 million bonds, and the allegations against 
them are at the center of a criminal case against 55 men and women who 
prosecutors say participated in fraudulent and criminal matters for the Athens 
Park Bloods street gang.

Since prosecutors filed notices last month to seek the death penalty, Hamilton 
County Criminal Court Judge Tom Greenholtz said he wanted to ensure Grier, High 
and Shelton had competent counsel. Hamilton County prosecutors last sought the 
death penalty against Marlon Kiser, who was convicted in 2003 of killing 
Hamilton County Sheriff's Office Deputy Donald Bond in 2001.

In this case, Grier received Knoxville attorney Thomas Slaughter and a 2nd 
associate; High received Chattanooga attorney Steve Moore in addition to his 
current counsel, Fisher Wise; and Charles Shelton received Chattanooga defense 
attorney Dan Ripper. Defendants facing the death penalty must be represented by 
2 lawyers, and Greenholtz said he's searching for another appointment for 
Shelton.

Monday was the 1st time the majority of the defendants appeared, either in 
person or by video conference from custody, since prosecutors dismissed their 
first presentment and issued new charges against the alleged gang members. As a 
result, the defendants had to be arraigned once more, and those who showed up 
pleaded not guilty through their attorneys.

In their first March presentment, prosecutors charged the Athens Park Bloods 
gang with dealing illegal drugs, committing robberies and arson, lying to 
authorities about their crimes, using the proceeds of illegal activities to 
bail other members out of jail and pay legal fees and coordinating plans over 
partially untraced 3-way phone calls with incarcerated members. They charged 54 
people with at least participating in the conspiracy. Others, including Grier, 
High and Shelton, faced additional murder charges for previously unsolved 
homicides.

The first presentment, however, did not outline what prior crimes the majority 
of defendants committed in furtherance of the gang. After defense attorneys 
pushed the state for more information and evidence, prosecutors issued a new 
presentment last month with details on each defendant's prior crimes. According 
to court filings, some defense attorneys believe their clients should be 
dismissed from this indictment, too.

For example, in a motion filed Aug. 30, attorney Philip Wells said prosecutors 
are violating constitutional rights by relying on arrests that happened before 
legislators changed the RICO law in 2012 to prosecute gang members. 
Furthermore, Wells said, prosecutors don't have 2 prior arrests within two 
years of each other against his client, Rodney Lomnick Jr., as the RICO law 
calls on them to have.

Prosecutors haven't filed a response yet, but the next scheduled court date is 
Nov. 24.

(source: Chattanooga Times Free Press)








INDIANA:

State of Indiana argues for secrecy amid challenges to execution by lethal 
injection



It's becoming increasingly difficult for states to execute prisoners by lethal 
injection, a reality reflected in a legal debate currently unfolding in Marion 
County Circuit Court.

A once-common drug used in executions isn't produced anymore in the U.S. and 
isn't legal to import. Drug companies are suing to prevent their products from 
being included in whatever deadly chemical cocktail a state might have devised.

Such a lawsuit failed to prevent an execution last month in Nebraska. But in 
July it succeeded in postponing an execution in Nevada.

In Indiana, the dispute is over whether the state's execution protocol - 
including who manufactures and sells the drugs - should be made public. Marion 
Circuit judge Sheryl Lynch.

Marion County Circuit Court Judge Sheryl Lynch granted summary judgment in 2016 
to Washington, D.C., lawyer A. Katherine Toomey for public release of the 
records. But the Indiana Attorney General's office is asking Lynch to change 
that ruling after a controversial state law, passed in 2017, made execution 
records secret retroactively.

"The stonewalling should have ended years ago," Peter Racher, Toomey's 
Indianapolis lawyer, said in court last week.

He said how a state conducts executions is "a vital public interest" and that 
"Ms. Toomey's and society's interest weigh strongly against" secrecy.

Debate swirls around transparency

David Dickmeyer, a lawyer for the state, said it's appropriate for Judge Lynch 
to change her summary judgment ruling because "this is an extraordinary 
circumstance."

He argued that making the records public would subject manufacturers and 
vendors of execution drugs to "public shaming, public protests, hate mail and 
lawsuits." And it would hamper, or perhaps thwart, the state's ability to 
obtain what it needs for lethal injections.

The hearing lasted more than 3 hours. The legal issues included whether the 
state had a contract with its execution drug suppliers that would exempt 
disclosure; whether the 2017 law violated separation of powers between 
legislative and judicial branches; and whether a careful reading of the statute 
still permits disclosure of the information.

On the last point, whether any loopholes exist in the current law, Dickmeyer 
said, "According to the plain meaning of the statute, read in a common sense 
way, that's what the court should look at."

The 4-year-old case started with a public records request by Toomey to the 
Indiana Department of Corrections (DOC).

She asked the DOC for documents describing how the state carries out 
executions, the drugs used, the inventory of drugs intended for executions and 
where the drugs came from. She also asked for correspondence by public 
officials that would provide a window into how they arrived at their policy 
decisions on carrying out executions.

After initial setbacks, Toomey won a non-binding decision by the state's Public 
Access Counselor and summary judgment in Marion Circuit Court in October 2016. 
The state appealed, and lost. The state asked the Supreme Court to hear the 
case, and was denied.

But that wasn't the end.

After midnight on the final day of the 2017 legislative session, lawmakers 
slipped two pages into a lengthy budget bill. Those pages expanded what's 
secret about executions, and made the law retroactive.

Why secrecy is sought

The DOC and House Speaker Brian Bosma said last year, in the wake of the new 
secrecy law, that anything less than anonymity would prevent companies from 
selling lethal drugs for executions.

Indiana is hardly alone in its desire for secrecy around what it, and 30 other 
states, have decided is just punishment for heinous crimes. An American Bar 
Association publication last year listed at least 10 other states that conceal 
how they procure execution drugs and whether those drugs are "legitimate and 
effective."

Nationally, 55 % of Americans favor the death penalty, according to a 2017 
Gallup poll.

Drug companies have accused states of deception in obtaining chemicals for 
executions. Death penalty supporters see the lawsuits as a way of delaying 
justice, sometimes to the point where the drugs reach their expiration date. 
Death penalty opponents point to botched executions, including one that took 43 
minutes.

Judge Lynch is scheduled to make a ruling on the Indiana lawsuit by late 
November.

Last month, Nebraska became the 1st state to execute a prisoner using the 
opioid fentanyl. It is the same drug fueling the opioid epidemic. Fresenius 
Kabi, a German company and maker of 2 of the drugs used in the execution, sued. 
The state won 2 federal court rulings before carrying out the execution.

In July, an execution scheduled in Nevada was postponed after the drug company 
Alvogen, maker of the sedative midazolam, sued the state's prison system. Hikma 
Pharmaceuticals, maker of fentanyl, joined the lawsuit.

Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. said in a statement earlier this year, "We 
don't make or distribute any drugs used in lethal injections."

Indiana's death penalty cases

There are 9 people sentenced to death in Indiana, according to the Department 
of Corrections. No execution dates are scheduled. When the state notifies the 
Indiana Supreme Court that all appeals have been exhausted, the Supreme Court 
sets an execution date.

Earlier this month, the cases of 2 people on death row in Indiana changed.

In St. Joseph County, a judge approved the prosecutor's request to change a 
potential death penalty for Wayne Kubsch to life in prison. The man's 3rd trial 
for 3 murders in 1998 is scheduled for next year. The victims' families 
supported the decision.

In another case, Attorney General Curtis Hill asked the U.S. Supreme Court to 
review a federal appeals court ruling that overturned Fredrick Baer's death 
penalty sentence. Baer killed 2 people in 2004. The appeals court ordered a new 
penalty trial because of prosecutorial misconduct.

Last year, a federal appeals court overturned the death penalty sentence of 
John Stephenson, who murdered three people in 1996. The ruling gave the state 
the option of seeking the death penalty again in another penalty trial. The 
court said the jury in the previous penalty trial might have been prejudiced by 
seeing Stephenson wear an electric stun belt in court to prevent outbursts.

Warrick County prosecutor Michael J. Perry said Monday he is in discussions 
with Stephenson's defense team and can't be sure there will be another penalty 
trial.

(source: Indianapolis Star)