[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.H., PENN., FLA., ALA., LA.

[Rick Halperin]

May 30



NEW HAMPSHIRE:

A brief history of the death penalty in New Hampshire



Barring any last minute delays, the New Hampshire Senate looks set to take up a 
veto override vote and repeal New Hampshire’s death penalty Thursday morning.

And with 17 of 24 senators previously voting in favor of the repeal bill – 
which Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed early this month – the chamber looks to have 
enough support to pull the override off.

New Hampshire has never been a prolific state when it comes to capital 
punishment sentences. But with one person on death row today, the penalty and 
the vote to repeal it have taken on emotional heft. Here’s a primer ahead of 
the decision.

How did New Hampshire’s capital punishment develop?

Some form of a death penalty has existed in New Hampshire since at least the 
1640s, when 4 Seacoast towns, – Portsmouth, Dover, Hampton and Exeter – came 
under the scope of the “Body of Liberties” passed by the Massachusetts General 
Court. But over the centuries, its scope has dramatically ebbed and flowed.

Under the Body of Liberties, capital punishment was expansive, covering a range 
of crimes including three types of murder, adultery, blasphemy and even 
witchcraft, according to a 1986 article in the Bar Journal by Quentin Blaine. 
At one point during the Puritan era, the penalty was amended to cover children 
over 16 who “cursed or hit their parents,” Blaine wrote.

That all changed when New Hampshire broke away from Massachusetts in 1679, and 
the state’s Assembly began stripping away explicitly religious crimes and 
increasing exemptions. In centuries since, the crimes it’s covered have been 
modified, sometimes in response to current events. In 1937, murder during a 
kidnapping was added 5 years after the Charles Lindburgh case for example; in 
2011, lawmakers included home invasions after the brutal murder of Kimberly 
Cates in Mont Vernon.

As the law developed, it was put to sporadic use; from 1739 to 1939, 22 people 
were hanged in total.

But then it stopped. In 1939, Howard Long was the last to die by hanging in the 
state, a drop-off prompted by a decades-long “anti-gallows” movement that 
picked up influence in the late 19th century.

And in 1972, a Supreme Court decision derailed the whole penalty – briefly. 
Furman v. Georgia, a 5-4 decision, invalidated all death penalty statutes 
across the country; a second decision in 1976, Gregg v. Georgia, lifted the ban 
but advised states to adopt stronger review criteria.

In New Hampshire, the decisions made their mark. By 1977, the Legislature 
amended the death penalty to be optional for capital crimes, not mandatory.

Since then, the state has not successfully secured a death row conviction – 
with 1 current exception.

What does the state’s current death penalty include?

Under present statute, New Hampshire’s death penalty covers capital murder, 
which means any time someone “knowingly causes the death of another” in a set 
of specific scenarios.

Those scenarios entail murders during drug crimes, sexual assaults, 
kidnappings, burglaries, home invasions and contract killings, as well as the 
murders of state and local law enforcement and judicial officers.

A conviction must come from the unanimous verdict of a 12-person jury, and New 
Hampshire statute sets out numerous aggravating factors that can be considered, 
like the age of the victim, the use of torture by the perpetrator.

The execution “shall be inflicted by continuous, intravenous administration of 
a lethal quantity of an ultrashort acting barbiturate in combination with a 
chemical paralytic agent” and be carried out under supervision of a “licensed 
physician according to accepted standards of medical practice,” according to 
the statute.

One problem: The state doesn’t right now have the facilities to carry that out, 
nor the drugs to make it possible.

Where does N.H. stand compared to other states?

New Hampshire is 1 of 30 states with the death penalty currently on the books.

But among those 30 states, New Hampshire has one of the more limited penalties. 
Texas, for example, includes the murder of prison employees, children under 10 
and murder during arson.

That might explain why New Hampshire has sought the penalty in so few cases 
over the decades. But to advocates on both sides of the repeal debate, there 
may be other factors at work.

John-Michael Dumais, executive director of the New Hampshire Coalition to 
Abolish the Death Penalty, said the precise reason why so many cases eligible 
for capital punishment have not been pursued is hard to pinpoint. But for some 
it might come down to the state’s culture.

“I think you’d have to get into the modus operandi of various attorney 
generals,” he said, but added: “People are not necessarily clamoring for it. 
And when they have clamored for it, it hasn’t always been something that could 
be applied.”

Pat Sullivan, executive director of the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of 
Police, which strongly opposes repeal, attributed the scarcity in death row 
cases to the strength of the judicial process.

“It’s not just the high-speed lane or the expressway to the death penalty,” he 
said. “It’s something we take very seriously in New Hampshire. We look at all 
the facts relevant to the case, and then it’s proceeded in that way.”

How does House Bill 455 repeal the penalty?

The bill up for debate Thursday, House Bill 455, would strike the words “may be 
punished by death” and replace them with “shall be sentenced to imprisonment 
for life without the possibility of parole.”

That means the capital crimes still exist, but sentences would automatically 
become life without parole if decided by a 12-member jury. The proposed repeal 
is prospective, applying only to convictions after its passage, which would be 
May 30 should the repeal pass.

What about Michael Addison?

A major emotional driver for opponents of repeal – and hang-up for supporters – 
has been the case of Michael Addison, New Hampshire’s sole death row inmate. 
Addison is still awaiting the outcome of federal appeals relating to his 
conviction for the murder of Manchester police Officer Michael Briggs in 2006.

And while the proposed repeal bill is prospective, advocates on both sides have 
mused that a vote to eliminate the penalty could open the door for the state 
Supreme Court to commute his sentence down the line.

“That’s been discussed on many occasions,” Dumais said. “The likelihood is that 
once this happens, that Addison’s pubic defenders will look at this and say if 
this is not something New Hampshire wants to do for hte future, perhaps there’s 
a case to be made.”

Sullivan agreed with the possibility of a commutation by court decree, saying 
there was “no question” it would happen.

“Michael Addison had nothing to lose,” Sullivan said, referring to Addison’s 
conviction for life without parole. “He was already going to go life in prison, 
and if this passes he will go to life in prison and receive basically no 
penalty for the killing of Officer Briggs.”

But crafters of the legislation say the non-retroactivity clause is there for a 
reason.

Where does Thursday’s vote stand?

According to the state constitution, 2/3 of New Hampshire’s 24-member Senate 
must vote in favor of overriding a veto to pass: 16 total. Last week, the House 
cleared that hurdle with no votes to spare: 247-123.

In a vote taken in April, 17 members voted in favor of repeal. That list 
includes Democratic Sens. Shannon Chandley, Jeanne Dietsch, Dan Feltes, Martha 
Fuller Clark, Martha Hennessey, Jay Kahn, Melanie Levesque, Jon Morgan, Cindy 
Rosenwald, Tom Sherman, Donna Soucy and David Watters.

Sens. Lou D’Allesandro and Kevin Cavanaugh, representatives of the city of 
Officer Briggs, oppose repeal.

For Thursdays override measure to fail, two will need to peel off and change 
their vote. Sununu and his coalition proved adept at that in the House, 
flipping 35 Republicans to get within a hair of stopping the override then and 
there. The Senate offers a narrower path: Of the four Republican senators who 
voted to repeal in April – Sens. Harold French, Bob Giuda, David Starr and Ruth 
Ward – many appear to be set in their decisions.

Pulling off a reversal under those conditions is a tall order for Sununu and 
repeal opponents. But in this Legislature, what’s expected is never what’s 
certain.

(source: Concord Monitor)

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

Urge NH Senate to end death penalty



Overriding Gov. Chris Sununu’s veto of a bill to repeal the death penalty is 
expected to be the first thing taken up by the New Hampshire State Senate 
Thursday morning.

While the Senate originally passed the bill 17-6 (slightly more 70%), a margin 
large enough to meet the 66% required to override a veto, this is no time for 
those who have fought for decades to repeal the death penalty to rest easy.

After all, in its original death penalty repeal vote the House passed the 
measure by a 76% margin, but in its override vote last week, following intense 
lobbying by Gov. Sununu as well as some crime victims and police unions, the 
House passed its override by a single vote, cast by House Speaker Steve 
Shurtleff.

Rallies are planned outside the Statehouse first thing Thursday morning and, 
because we strongly support repeal of the death penalty, we urge all Seacoast 
residents to contact their state senators to make sure they vote in favor of 
the override.

Seacoast state senators are:

• District 4, David Watters, D-Dover, David.Watters at leg.state.nh.us, (603) 
271-3042. Watters represents Barrington, Dover, Rollinsford, Somersworth.

• District 6, James Gray, R-Rochester, James.Gray at leg.state.nh.us, (603) 
271-3092. Gray represents Alton, Barnstead, Gilmanton, Farmington, New Durham 
and Rochester.

• District 21, Martha Fuller Clark, D-Portsmouth, 
Martha.FullerClark at leg.state.nh.us, (603) 271-2609. Fuller Clark represents 
Durham, Lee, Madbury, Portsmouth, Newfields, Newmarket and Newington.

• District 23, Jon Morgan, D-Brentwood, (603) 271-8631, 
Jon.Morgan at leg.state.nh.us. Morgan represents Brentwood, Chester, Fremont, 
Danville, East Kingston, Epping, Exeter, Kingston and Sandown.

• District 24, Tom Sherman, D-Rye, (603) 271-8631, Tom.Sherman at leg.state.nh.us. 
Sherman represents Greenland, Hampton, Hampton Falls, Kensington, New Castle, 
Newton, North Hampton, Rye, Seabrook, South Hampton, Stratham.

Seacoast Media Group’s editorial board has consistently called for the repeal 
of the death penalty, arguing the risk of human error is too high, minorities 
and poor people are disproportionately sentenced to death, it has not been 
proven a deterrent to violent crime and is far more expensive to taxpayers than 
sentencing someone to life without parole.

For more than 2 decades, state Rep. Renny Cushing, D-Hampton, whose father and 
brother-in-law were both murdered in separate incidents, has argued the death 
penalty hinders rather than helps the healing of grieving families.

“When a family member is killed, quite frankly, you don’t think about what to 
do with the killer,” Cushing said, during his House floor speech. “You try to 
figure out what to do with the chair at the kitchen table, what to do with the 
emptiness in your heart and you go through a whole process that lasts forever 
of trying to regain control over your life.”

Many former death penalty supporters have evolved in their thinking as the 
issue has been debated over the decades. One of the more moving speeches this 
year came from Rep. David Welch, R-Kingston, whose wife died 2 years ago. Welch 
said the loss of his wife made him feel for the families both of the killer and 
the victim.

“Both families are innocent and they’re both going through the same thing,” 
Welch said. “I just don’t think it’s good policy for our government to execute 
people.”

By passing an override of the governor’s veto, the state Senate can free the 
people of New Hampshire of the burden of a deeply flawed death penalty law that 
does us far more damage than good.

(source: Editorial, fosters.com)








PENNSYLVANIA:

Judge to decide death penalty or life in prison for man who murdered 2 in York 
Count----Paul Henry III wasn't allowed to possess guns. But he was able to get 
multiple guns. And police say he and his wife brought them to a Fawn Township 
home on Sept. 13, 2016 and killed 2 people



A York County judge will decide whether a man who fatally shot 2 people should 
be sentenced to death or serve life in prison without the possibility of 
parole.

Paul Henry III, 42, of East Manchester Township, was found guilty of 2 counts 
of 1st-degree murder in 2018 and then sentenced to death. But Common Pleas 
Judge Michael E. Bortner later threw out the punishment after both the 
prosecution and the defense agreed it could not stand because of an error on 
the verdict slip.

First Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Russell and Chief Deputy Prosecutor 
Scott McCabe, and Farley Holt and Suzanne Smith, Henry’s attorneys, appeared on 
Wednesday for a status hearing. They agreed that the judge will decide the 
punishment, and, instead of rehearing the entire case, he can rely on the 
testimony in the trial and first penalty phase.

Defense attorneys may call additional witnesses.

On Sept. 13, 2016, Henry burst into a home in Fawn Township with his wife, 
Veronique, and shot and killed Foday Cheeks, 31, of Fawn Township, and Danielle 
Taylor, 26, of Spring Grove.

Veronique Henry killed herself in York County Prison. She was 32.

No date has been set for the new penalty phase.

(soruce: York Daily Record)








FLORIDA:

Middleburg man faces death penalty, after pleading guilty to 2014 murder, 
sexual battery



It's a bizarre twist in a disturbing Middleburg case. Donald Davidson Jr. has 
pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree murder, attempted sexual battery on a 
victim over 12-years-old, four counts of sexual battery on a victim under 
12-years-old, lewd or lascivious molestation, kidnapping, and grand theft auto.

That's according to State Attorney Melissa Nelson, who says Davidson waived his 
right to a jury trial for the guilt and penalty phases.

Davidson does face the possibility of the death penalty for these crimes.

During court Wednesday, Davidson’s attorney, Mark Wright, said he was in 
uncharted waters as his client pleaded guilty.

“He has advised me that he wants to get this over with. He doesn’t want to put 
the victims through this, in particular the children,” said Wright.

The charges against Davidson all stemmed from December 1, 2014.

Investigators say Davidson entered a Middleburg home and strangled and stabbed 
a young mother, Rosanne Welsh, killing her. Davidson was said to have know her 
husband since childhood.

Several hours after that, investigators say Welsh's son returned home, but 
Davidson told him to leave. When Welsh’s son did finally return, investigators 
say he found his mother's body and realized his younger sister was missing.

When law enforcement arrived, Welsh's daughter was spotted running nearby. She 
told investigators that she was home during her mother's murder, but didn't 
know what was happening.

Investigators say Davidson approached the young girl and sexually battered her 
in the home and used the family van to kidnap her. Investigators say he then 
drove her around Clay County, before eventually dropping her off at her home.

Davidson was later caught by deputies driving on Blanding Boulevard.

Following his arrest, the sheriff's office says Davidson admitted to planning 
and attempting to sexually assault Welsh in her home.

The public information officer for the Clay County Sheriff's Office, Chris 
Padgett, says he was one of the detectives in this case and that it still 
brings him to tears to think about that day and the interview with the victim's 
son.

"We sat and talked Star Wars, Captain America and Marvel movies. He knew he’d 
never see his mother again and felt as though he should have done more for her 
and his sister. We must all remember him and his family, as the only thing that 
overcomes such evil doings is the kindness that human beings are more capable 
and prone to give for those in need," says Padgett.

A judge will oversee the penalty hearing for Davidson. That has been set for 
the week of June 10, 2019.

The State Attorney's Office tells us because it is a death penalty case, there 
still needs to a penalty phase prior to sentencing.

(source: WOKV news)








ALABAMA----impending execution

Alabama set to execute man for pastor’s slaying



A man who was nearly put to death before an execution warrant expired last 
month amid disagreements between U.S. Supreme Court justices is again set to 
die by lethal injection in Alabama.

Christopher Lee Price’s execution is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at Holman 
prison.

The 46-year-old was convicted of using a sword and knife to kill a country 
preacher during a 1991 Christmastime robbery. Price would become the second 
inmate put to death in Alabama in 2 weeks .

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused a stay on Wednesday for Price, 
who is challenging the state’s method of using three drugs during lethal 
injections. He could again ask the Supreme Court to intervene.

Price has asked to instead die by nitrogen hypoxia, an execution method Alabama 
has legally authorized but not developed. His lawyers argue the method, which 
kills by depleting the body of oxygen, would be less painful than lethal 
injection.

Price sued the state over Alabama’s current practices, and the inmate’s 
attorneys contend the state is rushing to execute him 2 weeks before the trial 
date. State attorneys asked the 11th Circuit to deny a stay, arguing that Price 
is bringing up previously decided issues at the last minute just to seek a 
delay.

Price was convicted of killing Bill Lynn, a Church of Christ minister in rural 
Fayette County, on Dec. 22, 1991.

The inmate was set to be executed last month but the state death warrant 
expired at midnight before a divided U.S. Supreme Court lifted a stay that 
blocked the lethal injection. The court subsequently released documents that 
showed its internal squabbling over the death penalty.

The Alabama Supreme Court then set a new execution date even though U.S. 
District Judge Kristi DuBose of Mobile had scheduled a trial set for June 10 to 
hear Price’s challenge to Alabama’s lethal injection process. DuBose denied an 
execution stay in a decision released Sunday.

Court documents show Lynn was at home with his wife Bessie assembling toys for 
grandchildren three days before Christmas when the electricity failed. He went 
outside to check on the power box, and the woman looked outside after hearing a 
noise to see a man dressed in black holding a sword above her husband.

The woman ran outside to find Lynn severely wounded, and she saw two men as she 
tried to start a van to flee. She was beaten and robbed of money and her 
wedding rings despite pleas that she be allowed to keep the jewelry, court 
documents show.

Price was arrested several days later in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He admitted 
participating in the robbery but blamed the actual killing on another man.

Kelvin Coleman pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison, 
while jurors convicted Price of capital murder and a judge sentenced him to 
death.

Earlier this month, Michael Brandon Samra was put to death by lethal injection 
for his capital murder conviction in a quadruple killing near Birmingham. His 
lawyers didn’t cite any complaints with the process following the execution.

Alabama executed 1 other inmate this year in February.

(source: Associated Press)

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

Jury recommends death for Huntsville man who killed toddler daughter

A Madison County jury has recommended the death penalty for Lionel Francis.

Francis was convicted of capital murder in the shooting death of his 
20-month-old daughter, Alexandria, in 2016.

The jury voted for death 11-1.

A sentencing hearing is set for July 25, where the court will then make the 
final decision.

Prosecutors say Francis deliberately shot his daughter in the head at close 
range.

Prosecutors say he has a history of violent crimes and he was charged in North 
Dakota and has a prior conviction for beating someone up.

Prosecutors say the jury made the right decision.

“In Alabama, we allow for the death penalty. We reserve it for the worst of the 
worst, people that have gone above and beyond in the evil acts that they have 
done....Life without parole was just not equivalent to the crime in this case. 
It had to be death,” said Madison County prosecutor Tim Douthit.

Francis’ attorney says he’s disappointed with the jury’s recommendation.

(source: WAFF news)

****************** Captial murder suspect gives birth to child; attorney 
searches for father



Latoni Daniel has given birth to a boy, a child conceived in the Coosa County 
Jail according to her attorney, and is facing the death penalty if found guilty 
of capital murder and robbery.

“We have a 6-pound bouncing boy,” attorney Mickey McDermott said Wednesday 
afternoon.

McDermott represents Daniel in a yet to be filed civil action.

McDermott said the current plan is to allow Daniel’s family to care for the 
infant while Daniel continues to trial with no bond available.

“It is our understanding the infant will be released to a family member when he 
is medically cleared,” McDermott said.

In addition, attorneys are trying to make sure the baby has breast milk from 
Daniel. Wednesday morning, attorney Nancy Kirby who represents Daniel on the 
criminal charges filed a motion asking the court to make sure Daniel has access 
to a sanitary space, supplies and equipment to pump breast milk for the infant. 
Kirby’s motion states what the defendant is asking for is similar to a program 
at Julia Tutwiler Prison.

“Alabama Department of Corrections has partnered with the Alabama Prison Birth 
Project to allow incarcerated mothers in Tutwiler Prison to pump breast milk,” 
the motion says. “Tutwiler provides mothers with private lactation rooms, the 
appropriate medical-grade pumping equipment and rocking chairs. The breast milk 
is then labeled and stored in a freezer where once a week a representative of 
the Alabama Prison Birth Project picks up the milk and transfers it to the 
child’s caregiver.”

The motion states reasons to allow the pumping, freezing and transfer of breast 
milk is supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“... Breastfeeding and breast milk have invaluable short-term and long-term 
health benefits for the child and mother,” the motion reads. “Breastfed infants 
have fewer incidents of respiratory tract infections, ear infections, GI tract 
infections, necrotizing enterocolitis, sudden infant death syndrome, infant 
mortality, allergic disease, celiac disease, obesity, diabetes, childhood 
leukemia and lymphoma.”

The motion asks for an appropriate caloric diet, prenatal vitamins, a manual or 
electric breast pump, storage bags, a private space to pump on a regular basis, 
a freezer for storage of the breast milk and coordination of transfer to the 
infant’s caregiver.

Daniel, 26, of Alexander City was arrested and has been in jail since December 
2017 on charges of capital murder and robbery. Daniel was transferred from the 
Coosa County Jail to the Talladega County Jail in December 2018 after it was 
learned she was pregnant.

Daniel is a co-defendant with LaDaniel Martel Tuck, 28, of Alexander City in 
the December 2017 robbery and shooting of Thomas V. Chandler of Goodwater, a 
case where the state is seeking the death penalty if she is convicted.

McDermott believes an investigation is needed to see how Daniel got pregnant. 
He said Thursday he has not been advised it is being investigated and has put 
several government agencies on notice of potential civil litigation about the 
matter including the Coosa and Talladega jails, district attorneys, sheriff’s 
departments and county commissions. He said he has also put on notice the 
Alabama Attorney General’s office.

“By law, this woman can’t consent to sex in jail,” McDermott said earlier this 
month. “There is a felon possibly running around and they are not pursuing 
him.”

Coosa County Sheriff Michael Howell was elected to the office by Coosa County 
voters in November. Howell and newer administrators in the department 
officially took office in January. Howell said earlier this month he could not 
comment about Daniel and her situation.

McDermott said his client doesn’t recall a sexual encounter and may have been 
on a sedative for seizure disorder when she was possibly raped.

“She sleeps for long periods of time when she takes the medication,” McDermott 
said earlier in May. “She doesn’t recall anything.”

McDermott said he was filing paperwork Wednesday evening to ask the court’s 
help in determining the infant boy’s father.

“I will be filing paperwork asking for a paternity test for all male employees 
of the Coosa County Sheriff’s Department and jail staff,” McDermott said. “My 
client doesn’t know who it is. It could also have been someone else who was 
incarcerated.”

(source: alexcityoutlook.com)








LOUISIANA:

Jason Reeves was convicted in 2014 of raping and killing 4-year-old Mary Jean 
Thigpen.



The U.S. Supreme Court has denied an appeal for a man found guilty and 
sentenced to death for the murder of 4-year-old Mary Jean Thigpen in 2001.

A death warrant for the man is expected to be signed by a local judge in the 
coming days.

Jason Manuel Reeves, 43, was convicted in 2004 of abducting Thigpen from Moss 
Bluff on Nov. 1, 2001, and then raping her before stabbing her 16 times and 
slicing her neck.

His 1st trial began Oct. 27, 2003, but was declared a mistrial after the jury 
was unable to meet a unanimous verdict on the 1st-degree murder charge.

Reeves' 2nd murder trial ended with jurors finding him guilty Nov. 4, 2004. He 
was sentenced to death by lethal injection on Dec. 10, 2004.

Judge Mike Canaday signed a death warrant in 2012, but the defense appealed, 
stating Reeves suffered from an intellectual disability. Canaday ruled in May 
2015 against that assertion. In April 2016, the state's Supreme Court upheld 
that ruling and Reeves' death sentence.

Last year Canaday heard motions in state district court that centered on 
Reeves' statement he had received ineffective counsel.

The proceedings were contentious at times as prosecutors and the defense team 
clashed on various issues.

The state Supreme Court denied Reeves' appeal in 2018, saying, in part, "Once 
again, Reeves improperly attempts to re-litigate an issue upon which he has 
already sought review."

The court also said, "Reeves contends penalty-phase counsel failed to discover 
and present evidence and additional expert witnesses to help explain the 
effects of his difficult childhood, and the history of sexual abuse he 
suffered."

But the court found Reeves had not disclosed to his penalty phase counsel "any 
of the additional sexual abuse revealed in these newly-discovered documents, 
meaning the best potential source of this information proved most unhelpful to 
his own defense. As a result, it is not clear that counsel failed to engage in 
a reasonable mitigation investigation."

Prosecutor Cynthia Killingsworth, after Reeves' appeal was denied in 2018, told 
the American Press she had previously filed one death warrant for Reeves and 
wanted to file the next one when that time came.

"I really thought we would be done with this case by now," Killingsworth said. 
"It's so terrible for the (Thigpen) family. It's ridiculous that it's been this 
many years and it isn't finished yet."

In April, the Louisiana Attorney General's Office joined with the Calcasieu 
Parish District Attorney's Office in opposing Reeves' latest petition to the 
Supreme Court.

Reeves has been on death row at Angola since 2004.

(source: americanpress.com)

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

Bill to conceal names of companies providing death penalty drugs struck down



A Senate Committee struck down a bill on a 3-2 vote along partisan lines that 
would have concealed the names of companies that manufacture and provide drugs 
used in carrying out the death penalty.

The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Nicholas Muscarello, R-Hammond, said this 
proposed law would have ensured that the identity of the drug manufacturer 
remained secret.

The bill would have guaranteed absolute confidentiality to lethal drug 
providers in Louisiana executions. The Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola 
is the only facility in the state where the death sentence can be carried out.

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

In the committee, at the heart of the 1-hour long debate were questions about 
government transparency versus information discretion.

The bill previously passed the House floor in a 68-31 vote earlier this month.

Michelle Ghetti, deputy solicitor general with the Louisiana Attorney General’s 
office, spoke in favor of the proposal. Ghetti said that by masking the 
provider’s identity, the bill could help prevent safety threats against 
execution drug providers and pharmacies, referring to cases in Oklahoma and 
Texas.

Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, who spoke in opposition of the bill, 
contended that Ghetti was using isolated cases to make a broader argument. “I 
do appreciate when you come to the committee and drop some of the most 
inflammatory language possible for maximum effect,” Morrell remarked.

Robert Tasman, executive director of the Louisiana Conference of Catholic 
Bishops, spoke in opposition of the bill.

“When you’re dealing with the most harsh punishment that a state can hand out, 
which is the taking of a life,” Tasman told committee members, “there ought to 
be complete transparency and accountability in the process.”

Mercedes Montagnes, executive director at the Promise of Justice Initiative, 
said the proposed legislation would have removed critical information about the 
manufacturer and this would have violated the public’s right to know.

“[The proposal] attempts to take away the one check, the litigation, that would 
verify the source of a drug,” Montagnes said.

Kevin Hayes, representing the Louisiana Press Association, said the issue was 
about keeping the justice system accountable to the public. “We are not here 
about the death penalty,” Hayes said. “This is not what this is about. This is 
about transparency.”

Since legislators deferred the bill, they effectively shut down the proposal 
for this legislative session because there is no time for Muscarello to present 
it again before the committee.

Louisiana is 1 of 31 states where capital punishment is legal.

Legislators have tried, unsuccessfully, during this legislative session to pass 
bills that would eliminate the death penalty in the state.

The Senate rejected a bill to abolish the death penalty from Sen. Dan Claitor, 
a Baton Rouge Republican, in a 25-13 vote. Claitor’s bill, co-sponsored by Rep. 
Terry Landry, D-New Iberia, would have included the bill on the 2020 
presidential ballot for voters to decide.

Another bill that would have abolished the death sentence, sponsored by Landry, 
was also rejected in the House earlier this month.

(source: Shreveport Times)