[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, MO., OKLA., COLO., ARIZ., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 4



OHIO:

Execution drug secrecy bill has unintended consequences, opponents testify


A law hiding the source of drugs used in Ohio executions could trigger 
wide-ranging unintended consequences, including disruptions in health care and 
violations of federal interstate-commerce law, opponents charged yesterday.

Few critics expressed opposition to capital punishment, which is legal in Ohio 
and resumed in 1999.

Instead, Public Defender Tim Young warned that House Bill 663 "is likely to 
cause long-term, far-reaching consequences."

The bill "sacrifices so much of what we all know about good government: 
openness, transparency, accountability, oversight and limits on governmental 
intrusion into contracts, private businesses and the medical profession," Young 
testified at a hearing of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.

In other states where similar laws shielding the source of lethal drugs were 
enacted, extensive litigation resulted.

Under pressure from a similar law in Missouri, state employees "purchased, with 
$11,000 in cash, execution drugs from an Oklahoma-based compounding pharmacy 
that was not legally allowed to do business in Missouri," Young said.

Further, he said the bill could disrupt health care because it might void some 
contracts between drug manufacturers and customers. It also would prevent 
licensing agencies from disciplining medical professionals who participate in 
the execution process.

Dr. Mary J. Wall, president of the Ohio State Medical Association, said in 
written testimony that her group, representing 20,000 physician and student 
members, is "troubled" by the fact that the bill would prohibit medical 
professional organizations from disciplining members for ethical violations. 
The American Medical Association code of ethics says physicians should not 
participate in a "legally authorized execution."

Prison officials, however, say the law is badly needed because they cannot 
proceed with executions scheduled next year and beyond without obtaining 
sufficient supplies of lethal-injection drugs. Most major drugmakers refuse to 
sell drugs for executions, so the state plans to tap small compounding 
pharmacies that prepare specific drugs at customer request. However, 
compounding pharmacies, which are not federally regulated, want to remain 
anonymous to avoid public protests.

House Bill 663 would shield the identity of a drug supplier, but also would do 
much more, critics argue.

Dennis Hetzel, executive director of the Ohio Newspaper Association, said it 
would "spawn new, time-consuming litigation," and "unquestionably will make it 
harder for citizens to hold government accountable for its actions."

Kevin Smith, representing the Society of Professional Journalists, said it is 
"one of the most overreaching in terms of secrecy that we have encountered in a 
long time."

Jim Tobin, spokesman for the Catholic Conference of Ohio, said it represents 
"an increasing effort to get around the moral, religious and proprietary 
objections of drug manufacturers who do not want their drugs or their drug 
formulas used in executions."

There was no testimony from supporters of the bill. Hearings are expected to 
continue next week.

(source: Columbus Dispatch)






MISSOURI----impending execution

Evidence Mounts of Paul Goodwin's Intellectual Disability as Missouri Plans 
Dec. 10 Execution; Citizens to Gather in Vigils for Life


Missouri officials, planning on Dec. 10 to execute Paul Goodwin who is 
intellectually disabled (mentally-retarded), would be violating state law and a 
federal ban on the practice established by the US Supreme Court's 2002 Atkins 
decision. Dr. Denis Keyes, a respected psychologist cited in the Atkins case, 
released on Thursday a compelling report affirming his 2001 finding that 
Goodwin meets the criteria for mental retardation under Missouri law and hence 
protection from the death penalty.

Keyes reported that school records indicate that Goodwin was initially enrolled 
in special education classes in 1st grade, then throughout his schooling. He 
had to repeat an elementary grade 3 different times and has also consistently 
struggled with adaptive living skills, such as managing money, performing basic 
tasks, and taking care of his personal health needs. He also has significant 
deficits in hearing and communication skills. We call on Gov. Jay Nixon to halt 
the execution for the sake of mercy and upholding the law.

Missouri officials have executed 12 people since last November the most over a 
year-long period since 1899. Goodwin's execution is bizarrely scheduled on 
what's recognized elsewhere in the world as Human Rights Day.

Dr. Keye's report on Mr. Goodwin states, "it is also not an exaggeration to say 
that this is the single case (of the more than 75 cases he's reviewed) that has 
caused this evaluator more desperate concern than any other over the past 26 
years." The reasons for this are numerous, but primarily, it is Dr. Keyes' 
belief that Paul Goodwin's mental retardation claim was never presented in the 
original trial, that the case was very poorly presented in appeal, and that the 
Court was unable to make a fully informed decision because of Paul's poor legal 
representation. As stated, "over the past 26 years, this expert has never seen 
such a poorly presented case on appeal."

The statewide MADP network will be holding vigils in 10 cities across the state 
on Tuesday, December 9th to raise awareness and call attention to the case of 
Mr. Goodwin and to remember Joan Crotts who he killed. MADP condemns all 
murders and mourns with those suffering the violent loss of a loved one Here's 
the list of gatherings statewide:

Bonne Terre: 11pm until after the execution at midnight. Some will carpool from 
the St. Louis vigil to this one. A candlelight vigil will be held outside the 
prison where the execution takes place, 2727 Highway K. For more information 
email stlouis at madpmo.org, or call Margaret on 314-322-5159.

Columbia: 5pm to 6, Boone County Courthouse, in front of the columns, corner of 
Walnut and 8th. For more information contact 573-449-4585.

Jefferson City, Capitol vigil: 12pm. A respectful Vigil for Life outside of the 
Governors office in the state Capitol. Room 216 on the nd floor of the state 
capitol.

Jefferson City: Prayer service, 4pm, St. Peter's Chapel on Broadway St. Vigil 
across from the Supreme Court Building at 207 West High Street, 4:30-5:30. For 
more information contact???573-301-3529.

Joplin: 6:30 to 7pm, St. Peter the Apostle Church, Mass begins at 6 followed by 
continued prayer regarding the execution. Contact Fr J. Friedel for more 
information, at 417-623-8643.

Kansas City: JC Nichols Fountain on the Plaza, 4pm-5pm (note the new time). For 
more info contact 816-206-8692.

Kirksville: Time and place TBD, check with Truman State University's Amnesty 
International chapter.

Springfield:Park Central Square,???12 noon to 1 pm. For more information call 
Donna, 417-459-2960.

St. Joseph: 4pm at the intersection of Belt & Frederick. Contact Jean at 
816-671-9281 for more info.

St. Louis: Vigil from 8pm to 9 on the steps of St. Francis Xavier Church at the 
corner of Grand and Lindell. A group will carpool from there to Bonne Terre to 
hold vigil outside the prison until after the execution is completed. For more 
information email stlouis at madpmo.org, or call Margaret on 314-322-5159.

St. Peters: 7pm vigil at All Saints Parish at the Peace Pole Pavillion. 7 
McMenamy Drive, St. Peters, MO. For more information contact John, 636-397-1440 
x227.

(source: MADP)






OKLAHOMA:

Death penalty secrecy imperils integrity of the procedure, US judge warns ---- 
Federal judge Joe Heaton considers challenge brought by newspapers including 
the Guardian who say Oklahoma acted unconstitutionally by limiting reporters' 
access


Allowing the state to filter what the press can see during an execution is akin 
to a "puppet theater" and would imperil the integrity of the procedure, a 
federal judge was warned on Thursday as he considered a challenge to the 
secrecy imposed by the state of Oklahoma during the botched execution of 
Clayton Lockett in April.

US district judge Joe Heaton listened to arguments from the American Civil 
Liberties Union,which claims Oklahoma prison officials acted unconstitutionally 
by lowering the blinds between the death chamber and the observation room after 
it was clear the procedure had gone awry, and from the state, asking that the 
lawsuit be dismissed.

The ACLU is joined as a plaintiff in the case filed in the US district court 
for the western district of Oklahoma by the Guardian, the Oklahoma Observer and 
journalist Katie Fretland, who was one of the journalists in the observation 
room for Lockett's execution and who reported for both outlets.

"The supreme court has said repeatedly that justice cannot be done in the dark. 
That is nowhere more true than when we're talking about killing a human being," 
ACLU staff attorney Lee Rowland, who presented the plaintiffs' case, said 
before the hearing. "It is imperative that the press, and by extension the 
public, are able to have independent eyes and ears at that procedure and be 
certain that the state is carrying out lethal injections in a proper manner."

Rowland asked the judge to consider pre-empting Oklahoma from denying reporters 
access to the full lethal injection process, arguing that the "press serves as 
a vital proxy for the public's oversight of the death penalty".

In the wake of the botched execution, Oklahoma adopted new execution protocols 
that, among other changes, reduces the number of media witnesses from 12 to 5. 
The new procedures also allow state officials to remove witnesses from the 
viewing area and lower the blinds during an execution if the inmate is still 
conscious after five minutes. The lawsuit asks the court to stop Oklahoma from 
imposing these new procedures.

The state asked the judge to throw out the lawsuit on the grounds that it has 
the right to limit access of the press during an execution. Representing 
Oklahoma, assistant attorney general Dan Weitman argued that while it might be 
"good" to allow the press to witness such procedures, the 1st amendment does 
not grant reporters unfettered access. Weitman also told the judge that a 
bungled execution was unprecedented for the state, and that something like 
Lockett's prolonged death was unlikely to occur again.

On 29 April, Lockett, 38, condemned to death for kidnapping, rape and murder, 
was ushered into an Oklahoma death chamber, strapped to a gurney and injected 
with a cocktail of 3 drugs - midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium 
chloride. It was soon clear something had gone terribly wrong. He was observed 
writhing and groaning on the gurney before prison officials lowered the blinds 
midway through the execution.

Shielded from the view of reporters, Lockett died 43 minutes after the 
procedure began. A 2nd execution scheduled to take place that night was 
postponed.

"The public was deprived of an independent witness in Lockett's death, which, 
given what happened, is bad for democracy," Fretland told the Guardian after 
the hearing. "The death penalty is the most severe action the state can take, 
and it's taking this action in the name of the public, and what's lost, I 
think, behind the veil of secrecy is the public's right to independently 
evaluate the proceeding."

Lockett's execution was one of a series of botched procedures that have renewed 
a nationwide debate about capital punishment in America. A Europe-led boycott 
of medical drugs that US corrections departments use to kill their prisoners 
has squeezed states' lethal drug supplies. The scarcity has forced states to 
find other, potentially less reliable, supply lines.

This risk, Rowland argued, sharpens the need to guarantee reporters and other 
witnesses are permitted "meaningful, uninterrupted and unedited" access to the 
lethal injection procedure from the moment the condemned inmate is wheeled into 
the chamber until the moment of death.

This would include allowing reporters to view the insertion of the IV, which 
witnesses to Oklahoma executions have traditionally been blocked from viewing. 
During Lockett's execution, the blinds remained closed while officials inserted 
the intravenous lines. They were raised only when officials began administering 
the lethal cocktail.

On this point, Weitman argued that allowing witnesses to observe the IV 
insertion would put the members of the execution team at risk of being 
identified. Rowland countered that other death penalty states, including 
Arizona and Ohio, allow witnesses to view this aspect of the execution, and 
said the state could take simple steps to conceal the team's identities.

Oklahoma's next scheduled execution, of inmate Charles Warner, whose execution 
was originally to take place hours after Lockett's, is set to happen on 15 
January. Heaton said he would attempt to deliver his decision promptly, with 
Warner's new execution date in mind.

(source: The Guardian)






COLORADO:

Judge in Aurora theater shootings won't bar death penalty


The judge in the Colorado theater shootings case has rejected another attempt 
by defense lawyers to rule out the death penalty.

Attorneys for defendant James Holmes had asked the judge to bar prosecutors 
from seeking execution, saying Holmes is mentally ill and putting him to death 
would be cruel and unusual punishment.

In a ruling released Thursday, the judge said Holmes' mental health is in 
dispute and would be an issue during the trial. The judge also said the defense 
didn't make a persuasive argument that executing a mentally ill person was 
cruel and unusual.

Holmes pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of killing 12 people 
and injuring 70 in the July 2012 attack on a Denver-area theater.

His trial is scheduled to start Jan. 20.

(source: Associated Press)






ARIZONA:

Arias evidentiary hearing gets heated; prosecutor, IT expert square off .


Although the jury in the Jodi Arias sentencing retrial is off until Monday, the 
lawyers and the judge were still hard at work Thursday.

The jury was given the break while evidentiary hearings were held Thursday and 
Friday.

At issue Thursday was the alleged deletion of thousands of files, some of which 
reportedly were pornographic in nature, from Travis Alexander's computer.

The defense filed a motion to have Arias' murder conviction thrown out, 
claiming that the images were removed from Alexander's computer while it was in 
police custody.

Martinez is arguing that the defense's own IT expert is the one who erased the 
files in question.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez accused the expert of using special kind of program to 
destroy the files. That expert called Martinez a liar, saying he only removed 
malware and viruses from the machine.

The expert did not stop at accusing Martinez of lying.

Prosecutor: Isn't it true that you used an incinerator program to delete 70,000 
files?

Expert: That is absolutely not true. You are absolutely lying. This is 
prosecutorial misconduct.

The expert also said that somebody accessed porn sites from Alexander's 
computer on June 10, 2008. Arias killed Alexander, she claims in self-defense, 
on June 4, several days earlier.

The Arias trial has garnered national - even worldwide - attention. A jury on 
May 8, 2013, convicted her of murdering her ex-lover, and while they found her 
eligible for the death penalty, they could not unanimously agree to hand down 
the sentence.

Because of that, Judge Sherry Stephens declared a mistrial in the penalty phase 
of the trial.

After months of legal wrangling, a new jury was eventually impaneled, and a 
retrial of the sentencing phase began on Oct. 21. It is expected to last until 
the middle of the month.

In the meantime, rumors that Arias herself will once again take the stand 
continue to swirl.

(source: azfamily.com)






USA:

Younger Christians less supportive of death penalty


One day after the state of Ohio executed a man for murder, a poll showed 
younger Christians are not as supportive of the death penalty as older members 
of their faith.

When asked if they agreed that "the government should have the option to 
execute the worst criminals," 42 % of self-identified Christian boomers, born 
between 1946 and 1964, said "yes." Only 32 % of self-identified Christian 
millennials, born between 1980 and 2000, said the same thing.

The poll conducted by Barna Group surveyed 1,000 American adults and has a 
margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 % points.

It showed an even sharper difference in support for the death penalty among 
"practicing Christians," which Barna defined as those who say faith is very 
important to their lives and have attended church at least once in the last 
month. Nearly 1/2 of practicing Christian boomers support the government's 
right to execute the worst criminals, while only 23 % of practicing Christian 
millennials do.

Other polling organizations such as Gallup show similar generational trends 
among Americans in general.

Heather Beaudoin, national organizer for Equal Justice USA, a national 
organization working to reform the criminal justice system, said the Barna 
research confirms what she sees: a growing desire among younger Christians to 
abolish the death penalty.

"The question for them is no longer 'Is it right or wrong?'" said Beaudoin. 
"They are seeing how it is actually functioning in our country - the race 
issues, the risk of executing the innocent, the fact that if you can afford an 
attorney you'll probably not end up on death row - and they are changing their 
minds."

Roxanne Stone, vice president for publishing at Barna, said capital punishment 
may increasingly be seen as a human rights or social justice issue.

"This parallels a growing trend in the pro-life conversation among Christians 
to include torture and the death penalty as well as abortion," Stone said. "For 
many younger Christians, the death penalty is not a political dividing point 
but a human rights issue."

And what of that age-old question, "What would Jesus do?"

According to the Barna study, only 5 % of Americans believe that Jesus would 
support government's ability to execute the worst criminals. 2 % of Catholics, 
8 % of Protestants, and 10 % of practicing Christians said their faith's 
founder would offer his support.

Comparatively lower support for the death penalty among young Christians stands 
in sharp contrast to the way conservative Christian leaders like Ralph Reed, 
Gary Bauer, and Jerry Falwell backed state executions in the 1990s.

"Certain things come to a moment and then become accepted all of a sudden very 
quickly," Dieter says. "From apartheid to women's rights, we've seen this 
throughout history. I think we're coming to a moment on this issue now that 
will lead to the death penalty being outlawed in the United States and around 
the world."

(source: religion News Service)

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

Will the Sampson decision affect the Tsarnaev trial?


The cases of Gary Lee Sampson and Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dhzokhar 
Tsarnaev could not be more different, but they are connected by the Federal 
death penalty that Massachusetts abolished years ago.

Even though the Commonwealth does not have the death penalty, both Sampson and 
Tsarnaev are being prosecuted in Federal Court, under Federal law. Whatever a 
judge rules in Sampson's case, could have a huge impact on the upcoming trial 
of Tsarnaev.

Sampson was already condemned to die back in 2003, but his death penalty 
sentence was thrown out. Federal prosecutors are trying to have it reinstated, 
but Sampsons lawyers are now arguing that it should not be reinstated, because 
the death penalty in the Bay State had been abolished.

And that argument is being made on the eve of what may be the biggest trial in 
the state's history, the death penalty trial of Tsarnaev.

Former federal prosecutor, now defense attorney, Brad Bailey is one of many 
legal analysts closely watching what is happening right now in Federal Court in 
Boston, and how a decision for Sampson could impact Tsarnaev.

"No question it's relevant. This is the United States District Court for the 
District of Massachusetts. One judge issuing a decision on the same topic 
absolutely creates a precedent in the jurisdiction that would be followed, 
unless set aside or changed by the governing court of appeals," Bailey said.

The Tsarnaev death penalty trial is set to begin in US District Court in Boston 
with jury selection Jan. 5.

Bailey expects in the end, that jury, if it convicts Tsarnaev, will decide if 
Tsarnaev is to live or die. However, he says Federal laws may "trump 
everything."

"It's been litigated all the way to the US Supreme Court. My guess is, it's 
gong to hold," he said.

(source: MyFoxBoston.com)