[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., LA., ARIZ.

[Rick Halperin]

May 8



TEXAS:

Lawmaker right to demand change in execution-day procedures



State Sen. John Whitmire is calling on the Texas Department of Criminal Justice 
to make a change to its execution-day procedures following the execution of a 
man sentenced to die for the gruesome modern-day lynching of James Byrd Jr. in 
Jasper.

Whitmire said he was “shocked” to see John William King’s written statement 
quoted in the media. He wants the TDCJ to end the policy of a prison spokesman 
reading aloud prisoners’ written statements after their death. “I believe this 
action was totally improper and should never be repeated,” he said.

He’s right. Reading aloud King’s statement after the fact was rude and 
disrespectful to Byrd’s family, just as doing so for any other condemned killer 
is rude and disrespectful to the families of their victims. A condemned 
killer’s only chance to weigh in with final thoughts should be any last words 
uttered while strapped to the gurney inside the execution chamber.

King kept his eyes closed as witnesses arrived in the death chamber and never 
turned his head toward Byrd’s relatives. Asked by Warden Bill Lewis if he had a 
final statement, King replied: “No.” That should have been the last we ever 
heard from him.

Former Jasper County District Attorney Guy James Gray — the man who prosecuted 
King, Lawrence Russell Brewer and Shawn Allen Berry — told The Texas Tribune in 
an August 2018 story, “When you handle a case like that and get inside the mind 
of a real racist, a white supremacist racist, and you see how dangerous those 
people are to the fabric of our society ... ’’

Gray is right. Byrd was beaten, stripped naked, tied to the back of a truck by 
three white supremacists and dragged down a dirt road until he was dead and 
decapitated. King was found guilty of orchestrating one of the most gruesome 
hate crimes in U.S. history. Why would anyone want to get inside the mind of 
that type of individual?

In a 2001 interview, King described himself as an ‘‘avowed racist.’’ He had 
offensive tattoos on his body, including one of a black man with a noose around 
his neck hanging from a tree, according to authorities. A Hollywood ending 
where the condemned expresses regret and sorrow for their heinous act isn’t 
realistic. It certainly wasn’t going to happen in this instance.

This isn’t the first time Whitmire has been critical of the prison system after 
the execution of one of Byrd’s killers. Berry was sentenced to life in prison; 
his 1st parole hearing is set for June 2038.

Before he was executed in 2011, Brewer ordered two steaks, a triple-patty bacon 
cheeseburger, a cheese omelet, fried okra, a pound of barbecue, white bread, 
fajitas, pizza, Blue Bell ice cream, fudge and three root beers. At the time it 
was standard for prisoners to request a special meal before their execution. 
But when Brewer refused to eat any of the food, Whitmire demanded an end to the 
practice, calling it “ridiculous.” Prison officials complied, and since then 
condemned men can eat only what’s on the mess hall menu for the day.

Whitmire also wants to examine the death-penalty appeals process and look into 
how King was able to linger on death row for more than 2 decades. On average, 
inmates on Texas’ death row have spent 15 years, 8 months there, according to 
The Texas Tribune. Two inmates sent to death row by Angelina County juries have 
been there much, much longer — 41 years, 6 months and 32 years.

Louvon Byrd Harris said King and Brewer got “an easy way out” compared with“all 
the suffering” that her brother faced. Sadly, she’s also right.

(source: Editorial, Denton Record-Chronicle)

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

District Attorney seeking death penalty in accused cop killer



We have confirmed the Bexar County District Attorney is seeking the death 
penalty against Otis McKane.

McKane is accused of killing San Antonio police Detective Ben Marconi in 2016.

Marconi was a 20-year veteran of SAPD from Floresville. He was 50 when he was 
killed outside of police headquarters.

District Attorney Joe Gonzales issued a statement on the decision late Tuesday.

When I ran for District Attorney in 2018, I promised the citizens of Bexar 
County that I would seek the death penalty only in the worst of the worst 
cases. The facts of this case meet that standard. After months of reviewing all 
of the evidence in this case, as well as meeting with and considering the 
wishes of Detective Marconi's family, my capital crimes committee and I have 
elected to seek the death penalty. This decision was made after much debate 
about the options available to me and I believe that the cold and calculating 
nature of the defendant's conduct in this case deserves the death penalty.

(source: foxsanantonio.com)








PENNSYLVANIA:

Rep. Frank Ryan co-sponsors bipartisan bill to abolish death penalty

State Representative Frank Ryan (R-101) has backed a bipartisan bill that would 
see Pennsylvania joining 20 other states in doing away with the death penalty.

For the bill, Rep. Ryan has teamed with Rep. Chris Rabb, who represents 
Pennsylvania District 200 in Philadelphia.

Rep. Ryan’s district includes southern and western Lebanon County.

A broken criminal justice system and a long and expensive appeal process 
involved with capital punishment cases are among the reasons the 
representatives have for getting rid of the death penalty.

While the death penalty is typically divisive along party lines, in quotes 
obtained by WITF, Rep. Ryan said that he anticipates more Republicans will join 
him and Rep. Rabb by co-sponsoring the bill.

“I’ve gotten no blowback from any of my Republican colleagues,” said Rep. Ryan 
to WITF. “I had one say, ‘Oh my god Frank, you’re soft on crime,’ and then he 
said, ‘By the way, good bill. I’ll co-sponsor it.'”

Pennsylvania has carried out three executions since the federal government 
reaffirmed the death penalty in 1999.

In Pennsylvania, the death penalty is currently under a moratorium imposed by 
Governor Tom Wolf beginning in 2015.

Pennsylvania is 1 of 4 states—along with Colorado, Oregon, and California—that 
currently have governor imposed death penalty moratoriums.

(source: leb.town)

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

Key witness in death penalty case skips court, warrant issued



A woman who was in the car when Dekota Baptiste, 26, allegedly fired the shot 
that killed driver Terrance R. “Lex” Ferguson, 36, on Feb. 23, 2017, outside a 
Palmer township auto parts store failed to show up Tuesday to testify against 
Baptiste in the death penalty case.

Thressa Durate, 26, who was in jail until late December on a drug dealing 
charge and remains on parole, twice broke down on Monday when she was scheduled 
to testify. She was scheduled to be the 1st witness against Baptiste, but went 
into a crying fit. Palmer Township Detective Jim Alerica went first instead. A 
report in the Morning Call said in the 2nd instance, she fainted after crying 
and was sent home until Tuesday morning.

Durate was under subpoena and Northampton County Judge Samuel Murray issued a 
bench warrant for her arrest, the district attorney’s office confirmed.

Durate and Baptiste were romantically linked, but argued earlier on Feb. 23, 
2017, and Durate was “hanging out” with the 36-year-old Ferguson before they 
drove to the AutoZone off 25th Street to get a replacement light for Ferguson’s 
car, Assistant District Attorney Abe Kassis said in his opening argument.

The trial is continuing.

(source: lehighvalleylive.com)








LOUISIANA:

State death penalty comes under fire again



A new effort to abolish the state’s death penalty advanced last week with a 4-2 
Senate committee vote on a bill proposed by Republican State Sen. Dan Claitor.

Louisiana is one of 31 states that permits capital punishment. Similar efforts 
to ban the death penalty have failed in recent years as they went through the 
legislative process.

Under this year’s bill, voters would decide whether to change Louisiana’s 
constitution to make it illegal to execute criminals for any offense committed 
on or after January 1, 2021. Judiciary Committee C also passed an amendment 
that would include the bill on the 2020 presidential ballot for voters to 
decide.

The bill was filed by Claitor, R-Baton Rouge, the committee’s chairman, and 
co-authored by Rep. Terry Landry, D-New Iberia, and Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New 
Orleans, who tried to pass a similar bill last year.

In the 2018 legislative session, Morrell’s bill advanced to the Senate floor 
but was ultimately struck down. Claitor and Landry’s previous proposals to 
eliminate the death penalty also failed.

At the hearing, Morrell stressed that there have been numerous death row 
inmates who were later found to be innocent and that the states’ resources to 
convict someone are infinite but often unjust.

“In order for the death penalty to even be considered as a functional outreach 
of what government should do, you have to start from the position that you 
believe government is infallible,” Morrell said. “If you do not hold that 
government gets it right every single time, then death should not be on the 
table.”

Rep. Landry, a former superintendent of the Louisiana State Police, said he 
once supported the death penalty but had a change of heart after spiritual 
growth.

“I ask you today to look deep into your hearts and to your soul, and is it 
worth putting an innocent person to death for a crime they did not commit?” 
Landry asked. “Our communities are not safe because of the death penalty, and 
all we have to do is look at the statistics.”

Sen. Bodi White, R-Central, who was also a vocal opponent in last year’s 
debate, voted against the bill. He contended that “this body can’t judge every 
case or every person. We set the guidelines for the laws for the state of 
Louisiana.”

Louisiana’s debate follows the ongoing national discussion on the 
constitutionality of capital punishment. This year, the U.S. Supreme Court has 
decided on several death penalty cases, in which the court’s conservative 
majority upheld states’ rights to expedite the execution of convicted murderers 
and to reject prisoner’s demands for a painless death.

Drug companies, too, are under scrutiny since they need to make information 
about lethal drugs public but have also reported shortfalls of the the drugs.

The financial burden of capital cases weighs heavily on the state.

Proponents of the bill argued that the Louisiana Public Defender Board has 
spent $111 million on death penalty cases since 2008, and only one person has 
been executed in the state in the last decade. Data on capital punishment shows 
that race is an important variable in Louisiana’s conviction of capital cases.

According to LSU School of Public Health professor Peter Scharf, 70 % of 
inmates on death row in Louisiana are African-American. Scharf, an expert on 
crime, said that most criminologists believe that deterrence, such as having 
laws for capital punishment in place, has no effect on murderers.

Since 2000, 7 people on death row in Louisiana had been exonerated, and 2 
people have been executed. There have been no executions in the state since 
2010.

“The rate of capital punishment has dropped to almost none,” Scharf said. “We 
haven’t had an execution since 2010, so it’s not like we’re disrupting a lively 
policy that’s moving.”

“We’re disrupting a dysfunctional policy that’s ending on its own,” he added. 
“So I think this has a good chance. I think the governor seems like he might be 
supportive of it.”

In a statement released last month, the governor hedged his position. “The fact 
of the matter is that we cannot execute someone in the state of Louisiana today 
because the only legally prescribed manner set forth in state statute is 
unavailable to us,” he said.

“In the time since we last had this conversation, nothing has changed – the 
drugs are not available, and legislation has not passed to address concerns of 
drug companies or offer alternative forms of execution,” Edwards said.

Present at the hearing also were Scott M. Perrilloux, the district attorney for 
Livingston, Tangipahoa and St. Helena parishes, and Perry M. Nicosia, the 
district attorney for St. Bernard Parish, who both spoke publicly against the 
bill and stressed that they do not consider deterrence but rather the victims 
when deciding capital cases.

The debate is cloaked in partisan arguments. Earlier in March, one of the 
state’s top Republicans, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry--who has 
suggested hangings, firing squads and electrocution in the past--blamed Edwards 
for putting death penalty cases on hold and not seeing them through.

Both Landry and Edwards are up for re-election this fall and have argued 
repeatedly over policy, including criminal justice.

Executions have been halted in Louisiana ever since a federal court order 
blocking death sentences from being carried out in the state was issued in 
2014. While Edwards has pointed to drug shortages as a major obstacle for 
executions, Landry has accused him of hindering capital punishment.

While the odds are that the Republican-controlled House and Senate might once 
again block the legislation, Tuesday’s debate showed that legislators from both 
sides of the aisle will continue to debate this issue.

(source: The Franklin Sun)






ARIZONA:

Convicted killer avoids death penalty for murder of Gilbert police officer



A convicted killer was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for the 2010 murder 
of a suburban Phoenix police officer, a case in which prosecutors sought the 
death sentence.

Christopher Redondo received the life sentence after being found guilty last 
month of 1st-degree murder in the shooting death of Gilbert Police Lt. Eric 
Shuhandler.

“Nine years ago, the defendant callously killed a police officer in cold blood 
and then endangered the lives of many others during a lengthy pursuit,” 
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said in a press release.

“Lt. Shuhandler’s loved ones have waited a long time to see this day. Though it 
may not provide closure, I want to thank those who have worked and persevered 
to seek justice for this heinous act.”

Prosecutors sought the death penalty because of aggravating factors, including 
that the victim was a police officer and Redondo was previously convicted for a 
2009 murder for which he is already serving a life sentence, the release said.

Redondo also was found guilty by a jury in April on 5 counts of aggravated 
assault and 1 count of drive-by shooting. Sentencing on those convictions will 
occur May 17.

The crimes occurred after Shuhandler pulled over Redondo’s truck because it had 
a partially covered license plate on Jan. 28, 2010.

Redondo shot the 16-year police veteran in face as he walked from his patrol 
car back to the truck after learning that Redondo had an arrest warrant. 
Shuhandler died of his injuries after being transported to a hospital.

Authorities said Redondo and Daimen Joseph Irizarry, who was driving Redondo’s 
truck, fled after the shooting.

During a 50-mile chase, police said during the trial, Redondo leaned from the 
passenger-side window of the truck and fired 2 gunshots at a police vehicle on 
U.S. 60. He also tossed wrenches, an air compressor tank and other objects at 
pursuing officers.

The chase ended in the mining community of Superior, about 65 miles east of 
downtown Phoenix.

In July 2010, a jury found Irizarry guilty on 4 drive-by shooting counts, 8 
aggravated assault counts and 1 count of unlawful flight from law enforcement. 
He was sentenced to 107 years in prison.

(source: KTAR news)