[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., MD., FLA., ALA., ARK.

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 8



TEXAS:

'Murderabilia' dealer booted from Texas prisons, vows to appeal----Texas 
Department of Criminal Justice has ended prison visiting privileges for an 
online dealer who sells items tied to infamous killers


In what could be a precedent-setting case, the Texas Department of Criminal 
Justice has ended prison visiting privileges for an online dealer who sells 
items tied to infamous killers.

G. William Harder, who has been visiting Texas from his home in California, was 
removed early this week from "several" inmates' visitation lists, prison system 
spokesman Jason Clark said. He did not specify how many inmates were in 
question.

"It was determined that Mr. Harder was paying Death Row offenders for items 
that, we believe, he was in turn selling on his website," Clark said.

Harder oversees murderauction.com, one of various websites that sell artwork, 
letters, photos, autographed T-shirts, hair samples, foot scrapings, death 
certificates and other items from killers in prison.

But Harder, who maintains that he has never paid inmates for personal items, 
said the visitation ban was a response to press coverage of his most recent 
Texas visit. The phone call from a prison warden informing him he was no longer 
allowed to visit came Oct. 29, less than a week after a Chronicle story on 
murderabilia websites' impact on families of murder victims.

In particular, relatives of James Byrd Jr., who was dragged to death in June 
1998 in East Texas, have decried the listing on Harder's website of 4 items 
with a connection to John W. King or Shawn A. Berry, 2 of 3 men convicted in 
Bird's death.

King, 39, is on death row at the prison system's Polunsky Unit near Livingston. 
Berry, also 39, is serving a life sentence at the Ramsey Unit in Rosharon. The 
3rd man, Lawrence A. Brewer, was executed in September 2011 at age 44.

"I've had numerous inmates tell me the prison was looking for a way to ban me," 
Harder said by phone. "I'm not liked in the Polunsky Unit (where death row 
prisoners are housed near Livingston). They've done it before, to anti-death 
penalty activists."

Besides banning his visits, prison officials also suspended Harder's status as 
a spiritual advisor, he said.

Houston crime victims' advocate Andy Kahan, who has worked against murderbilia 
for about 15 years, said it was the first case he knew of in which a dealer was 
removed from prisoners' visitation lists.

Harder said he planned to meet Nov. 8 with an attorney and would appeal the 
decision within the allotted two weeks. If the appeal is denied, Harder said he 
would proceed with filing a lawsuit.

The business of online sales of prisoners' possessions is continually changing, 
Kahan said. One recent phenomenon, he said, is websites devoted exclusively to 
the artwork of a single prisoner, such as Jodi Arias. She was convicted of the 
June 2008 fatal stabbing of her former boyfriend, Travis Alexander, at his home 
in Mesa, Ariz.

(source: correctionsone.com)






PENNSYLVANIA:

Couple charged in 'horror story' beating death of boy


A suburban Philadelphia prosecutor says he will seek the death penalty against 
a man and his girlfriend for an "American horror story" in the 3-day torture 
and beating death of the woman's 3-year-old son in their mobile home for 
refusing to eat his breakfast.

Gary Fellenbaum, 23, and Jillian Tait, 31, were charged Thursday with beating 
Scotty McMillan to death with a homemade whip, a curtain rod, and their fists, 
WTXF-TV reports.

"Let me tell you about an American horror story," Chester County District 
Attorney Thomas Hogan told reporters. "Little Scotty McMillan is dead."

He said the couple, who had met while working at a Wal-Mart, laughed after 
hanging Scott upside down and striking him repeatedly with a frying pan, 
eventually beating him to death.

"It was an unspeakable act of depravity," the district attorney said.

Hogan said Fellenbaum weighs 275 pound man "and is punching a 3-year-old boy in 
the head."

At one point, Hogan said, the boy was taped to a chair and, when he lost 
consciousness, was revived for another round of beatings.

"When at some point on Tuesday, the water wouldn't revive him, they went 
shopping and went out for pizza," said Hogan.

Scott, according to police, had significant bruising over much of his head and 
body, and blood coming from his nose, WTXF reports.

"Our ER nurses see a lot of terrible things, but when they saw his body, they 
wept," Hogan said.

The couple, who moved in together last month, lived in the mobile home along 
with Fellenbaum's estranged wife, Amber, and three children - Scott, 3, his 
6-year-old brother Ryan and the Fellenbaums' 11-month-old daughter.

Ryan was hospitalized in Delaware with bruises and the infant was placed into 
foster care, authorities said.

The mobile home park is located outside the city of Coatesville, about 35 miles 
northwest of Philadelphia.

Police do not believe drugs or alcohol fueled the violence. Instead, according 
to a criminal complaint, Fellenbaum told police he felt "disrespected" by 
Scott, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

The prosecutor said what started as spankings morphed into "concentrated, 
repeated, escalating abuse." Then, "over 3 days he was systematically tortured 
and beaten to death," Hogan said.

Police were finally summoned on Tuesday in a 911 call by Amber, was charged 
with child endangerment for allegedly failing to help the child.

(source: WTSP news)






MARYLAND:

Death row inmate appeals sentence


At a Nov. 6 news conference, Attorney General Doug Gansler explains the 
legality of the death sentence of convicted murderer Jody Lee Miles, and the 
repeal of the death penalty in Maryland.


Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler on Thursday, Nov. 6 filed a legal brief 
urging the state's highest court to remove a convicted murderer from death row 
and sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Gansler said when the state dropped the death penalty in 2013, it lost all 
power to carry out executions. He asked the Court of Special Appeals to issue a 
sentence of life without parole, or to remand the matter to a lower court, in 
the case of convicted murderer Jody Lee Miles.

Edward Joseph Atkinson, a musical theater director from Mardela Springs, was 
murdered by Miles in 1997 during a robbery in Wicomico County. Atkinson was 
well known and popular in community theater circles in Wicomico, Dorchester, 
and Talbot counties.

Miles was tried and convicted for the crime in Queen Anne's County Circuit 
Court in 1998.

1 of 4 inmates on death row in Maryland, Miles filed a motion that claims the 
repeal of the capital punishment in the state last year has made his death 
sentence illegal.

"In fact, Mr. Miles' sentence is not illegal," Gansler said. "The argument has 
absolutely no merit whatsoever.

"The removal of the statutory authority to put those protocols in place has 
actually made it illegal and a factual impossibility for Mr. Miles to 
executed," Ganlser said. "It is our view that - under the due process clause of 
the United States Constitution and the 5th amendment, as applied through the 
14th amendment - it is a violation of Mr. Miles' due process to remain on death 
row."

Gansler said he and Miles' legal defense, Baltimore firm Nathans & Biddle, are 
both asking the Court of Special Appeals to vacate the death sentence. The 
defense plans to argue on Dec. 8 for a sentence of life with the chance for 
parole.

"He's looking for a sentence that's less than life without parole," Robert 
Biddle said, adding that Miles seeks an opportunity to be a free man before he 
dies.

Biddle also said a life sentence could move Miles from a maximum-security 
prison to a prison with mid-level security.

"Someone who's serving a life sentence is not able to go to any prison other 
than a maximum prison," he said. "Generally it's preferable to go to 
lower-level security facilities."

The hope is Miles would be able to take advantage of more work, rehabilitation 
and education opportunities, which aren't available at a maximum-security 
prison, Biddle said.

"People should understand: Life without parole is a death sentence," Gansler 
said. "You're dying in jail. You're coming out in a box. It might just not be 
as soon as it otherwise would be if you had the death penalty."

Del. Sandy Rosenberg, D-41-Baltimore City, a member of state's House Judiciary 
Committee, is an opponent of the death penalty. He said that "the most heinous 
penalty for the most heinous crimes is life without the possibility of parole."

However, victims' families may not be keen on dropping the death penalty.

"The family is not happy because they had a loved one murdered and 
appropriately thought that person should be held accountable," Gansler said of 
Atkinson's kin.

Atkinson's mother, Dorothy Atkinson, could not be reached for comment.

Gansler said he is sympathetic to the family's disapproval of the appeal, 
however, the law dictates that he and his office must follow through with it.

Biddle said while counsel often reach out to victim's families, the lengthy and 
complicated case made them disinclined to contact the Atkinson family.

"At this point, with the state agreeing to the death penalty being vacated, and 
if the Court of Special Appeals follows up on that, then there would be an 
opportunity - if Mr. Atkinson's family is receptive - to communicate with them 
about the situation," Biddle said.

As for Maryland's other 3 death row inmates - Heath William Burch, Vernon Lee 
Evans Jr. and Anthony Grandison Sr. - Gansler said filing the brief means 
nothing for them. He said it applies only to Miles.

Gansler said Burch has taken a different approach to his case and appealed 
directly to Gov. Martin O'Malley for a commutation of his sentence to life 
without parole.

"His case could be resolved that way," Gansler said. If Burch's sentence is not 
commuted, he could use the Miles case, if approved, as a legal lever to get off 
death row.

Evans and Grandison also could appeal to the governor or file the same type of 
brief as Miles to convert their death sentences to life in prison without the 
possibility of parole.

Gansler said those cases are different, and include more "egregious" facts such 
as multiple murders, and have federal sentences applied to those cases.

(source: myeasternshoreMd.com)

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

No more executions


Gov. Martin O'Malley needs to act soon to resolve the legal limbo into which 
the 4 remaining inmates on Maryland's death row have fallen since the repeal of 
the state's death penalty last year. State Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler 
opposed abolishing capital punishment in 2013, but now that it's a fact, he 
says, to his credit, that the state must change the sentences of the 4 men 
whose crimes were committed before the law was changed. In doing so, he has 
given Gov. Martin O'Malley, a longtime opponent of the death penalty, a golden 
opportunity. Mr. O'Malley should seize it and commute their sentences to life 
without the possibility of parole before he leaves office.

The fate of the 4 remaining men on Maryland's death row is not a new issue, but 
inexplicably it's one on which the governor - who has made an eloquent moral 
case against capital punishment - has dithered, seemingly unwilling to take 
this obvious step. The governor needs to act before he leaves office rather 
than hand the issue off to his successor. (Governor-elect Larry Hogan opposed 
the repeal of capital punishment, but he has been non-committal about the 
remaining inmates, saying he would review their cases individually.)

Mr. Gansler argues that the state no longer has the authority to execute the 
condemned men because the legislature abolished capital punishment in 2013. 
Though the bill repealing the death penalty was not designed to apply 
retroactively to inmates sentenced before the change, Mr. Gansler argues that 
the practical effect is the same because by repealing the death penalty 
legislators took away the state's power to issue the regulations necessary to 
put inmates to death. Mr. O'Malley presided over a long-term de facto 
moratorium on capital punishment even before it was officially repealed. The 
last Maryland execution was in 2005 because a year later the Court of Appeals 
threw out the state's procedures for carrying out lethal injections on 
constitutional grounds. Since then corrections officials have not issued new 
regulations, and now that the death penalty is no longer legal there is little 
likelihood they will attempt to do so again.

The regulations involve such matters as the chemicals used to carry out lethal 
injections and the personnel authorized to administer them. Without such 
regulations on the books and under Maryland's new law, capital punishment is 
"illegal and factually impossible," Mr. Gansler said.

The issue came up because one of the remaining death row inmates has an appeal 
pending before the state's second-highest court on this issue, and Mr. 
Gansler's decision to side with his lawyers on the question of whether the 
state has the legal authority to develop execution protocols is a powerful one. 
We trust his successor, Brian Frosh, who helped push the death penalty repeal 
through the legislature, would follow in the same vein. We could wait while 
this and the inevitable appeals on the same issue from the other three inmates 
work their way through the courts, but why go through the time and expense? 
Governor O'Malley can settle this question here and now.

In the past, Mr. O'Malley has said he would review commutation requests on a 
case-by-case basis. But the issue before him is not the same as in a 
run-of-the-mill recommendation from the parole board. The issue here is not 
whether a particular inmate's sentence serves the interests of justice, it's 
whether an entire class of punishment is appropriate. By saying he's 
considering these cases individually, is Mr. O'Malley suggesting the 
possibility that he could commute some death sentences but leave others in 
place? That would be absurd.

It's understandable that the families of the victims of these 4 murderers are 
upset over Mr. Gansler's findings and the prospect that the person who killed 
their loved ones may avoid the ultimate penalty. We can also understand their 
desire for closure to an incredibly painful chapter in their lives. But the 
current situation only guarantees years more of limbo as these cases work their 
way through the courts. Closure, in capital cases, is a false promise, and 
Maryland's new legal environment only makes it more so.

Having established the principle that capital punishment has no place in a 
humane society, it would be unconscionable for the state to continue even the 
illusion that it could one day carry it out. Mr. O'Malley could spare all 
concerned more of the uncertainty and anguish they already have suffered over 
Maryland's last death penalty cases with a stroke of his pen, and he should do 
so without further delay.

(source: Baltimore Sun)






FLORIDA:

Edward Covington is psychopath but not mentally ill, doctor testifies


Edward Covington, the Lutz man who murdered his girlfriend and her 2 children 
on Mother's Day 2008, is not mentally ill, a doctor hired by the state 
testified on Friday. He's a psychopath.

Retained by prosecutors to review Covington's lengthy medical history, 
psychiatrist Dr. Wade Myers said that although previous doctors had repeatedly 
diagnosed the defendant with bipolar disorder, that was incorrect.

Covington's addiction to crack cocaine made him seem bipolar, inducing hours or 
days of manic behavior, followed by depression, Myers said. He acted 
recklessly, not because he was chemically imbalanced, but because he was a drug 
addict. In actuality, Myers said, Covington has antisocial personality 
disorder, a term encompassing a "criminal personality or a psychopathic 
personality."

Myers' testimony is being used by prosecutors to argue that Covington, 42, 
deserves the death penalty for killing and mutilating Lisa Frieberg, 26, and 
her two children, 7-year-old Zachary and Heather Savannah, 2. He pleaded guilty 
last month to 3 counts of 1st-degree murder, abuse of a human body and animal 
cruelty.

Attorneys for Covington have argued that his early diagnosis of bipolar 
disorder is legitimate and has been validated by almost every mental health 
expert he's seen in the last 2 decades. At trial, they presented testimony from 
5 psychologists and psychiatrists who evaluated Covington before and after his 
arrest and reached essentially the same diagnosis. His life should be spared, 
the public defenders representing him say, in part because he is mentally ill.

Even as a child, Covington was exceptionally cruel, Myers said. He savagely 
beat his younger sister, leaving her terrified of him. Later in life, he broke 
his wife's wrist and knocked out several of her teeth. When she announced plans 
to divorce him in 2005, he killed her cats.

There were less violent indiscretions - writing bad checks, using drugs, 
driving at breakneck speeds - but to Myers, they complete the portrait of a man 
without a conscience.

He testified that Covington told him: "What happened at that crime scene was a 
monster he had been fighting to hold back all this life."

Covington could also be manipulative, Myers said. After he was fired from the 
Florida Department of Corrections for one too many screwups, he had no health 
insurance or income to pay for his medications beyond the money his parents 
gave him for rent and food. (Prosecutors say he spent much of this on crack, a 
drug he later referred to as his "mistress.") In spring 2008, he cut his 
wrists, knowing he would wind up in a hospital where he would be given drugs to 
control his behavior.

Though attorneys for Covington argued this showed he was desperate for 
treatment, Myers classified it as a devious scheme. "He was tricking the 
system," he said.

There may have been no one with whom Covington was entirely honest. While 
dating Freiberg, he was still trying to persuade his ex-wife, who is bipolar, 
to get back together with him. Lisa and her children were a burden, he told 
her.

As for remorse, Myers said Covington had none, noting that he stepped on his 
girlfriend's dead body as law enforcement officers led him out of her home. 
Sure, there had been apologetic statements and sobbing after his arrest, but 
"Actions speak louder than words," he said.

(source: Tampa Bay Times)






ALABAMA:

Jury recommends death penalty for John DeBlase in Mobile child killings


A jury on took a little less than 2 hours Friday to determine the life in 
prison without parole was not severe enough for a man who killed his 2 young 
children and dumped their bodies in the woods.

The Mobile County Circuit Court jury acted 2 days after it decided that John 
DeBlase was guilty of all 3 capital murder counts against himin the deaths of 
4-year-old Natalie DeBlase and 3-year-old Chase DeBlase.

Dressed in brown pants and a yellow shirt, a subdued defendant showed no 
emotion as the jury foreman read the verdict.

The 10-2 vote in favor of the death penalty is a recommendation only. The final 
judgment rests with Circuit Judge Rick Stout, who set a Dec 11 sentencing 
hearing to consider additional arguments.

"It's been a long 4 years and a long four weeks, but finally, finally, we have 
justice for these young children, these babies who were so brutally murdered," 
Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich said outside the courtroom.

Defense attorneys Glenn Davidson and Art Powell left the courthouse without 
commenting. DeBlase's parents also declined to comment, but his aunt, Rose 
Hathcock, expressed anguish as she left the courthouse.

"She's a mother," she said, referring to the defendant's mother. "She's lost 
her grandchildren. She just lost her son."

After December's sentencing hearing, focus will turn to co-defendant Heather 
Leavell-Keaton, who faces identical charges. Rich reiterated her intention to 
seek the death penalty in that case, as well. She said she intends to try that 
case in the spring and indicated that she would oppose efforts to move the 
proceedings to another county.

Unable to convince jurors during the 2 1/2-week trial - 4 weeks including jury 
selection - that their client was the hapless victim of common-law wife 
Leavell-Keaton, Davidson attempted to persuade the jury to at least make a 
distinction between the co-defendants. It was Leavell-Keaton who instigated the 
violence against the children and carried out the most brutal acts, he told 
jurors during closing arguments of the penalty phase.

But Rich told jurors that both defendants were equally culpable, and that 
Leavell-Keaton would receive justice another day. Instead, Rich urged jurors to 
focus on the one and only defendant before them.

Testimony indicated that the 2 children suffered immensely over several months. 
Prosecutors argued that the defendants poisoned them, forced them to stand long 
hours in the corner of a room, bound them in duct tape and beat them with 
belts. Chase was bound to a broomstick.

At the end, according to testimony, the 2 children were stuffed into a 
suitcase, placed in a dark closet and finally choked to death. On separate 
trips, the defendants dumped the bodies, a wooded area near Citronelle for 
Natalie and in rural Mississippi for Chase.

Prosecutors showed photos 1 last time during closing arguments showing how 
little remained of the bodies when law enforcement officers uncovered them.

(source: WALA news)






ARKANSAS:

Inmate sentenced to death for stabbing guard


An Arkansas inmate already serving life in prison has been sentenced to the 
death penalty in the stabbing death of a correctional officer.

A Lee County jury on Thursday convicted 34-year-old Latavious Johnson of 
capital murder in the January 2012 death of Cpl. Barbara Ester. Prosecutor 
Fletcher Long says Johnson stabbed Ester while she was working as an officer at 
the East Arkansas Regional Unit in Brickeys, where Johnson was serving a life 
sentence for the killing of his father.

Long says the stabbing happened after Ester made several attempts to confiscate 
contraband sneakers from Johnson.

The Times-Herald reports (http://bit.ly/1wCwtNJ) that Johnson admitted in a 
written statement to stabbing Ester after blacking out. He apologized to her 
family, friends and co-workers.

(source: Associated Press)