[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----GA., FLA., ARIZ., WASH.

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 12



GEORGIA:

Prosecutors to seek death penalty in baby's death


The DeKalb County district attorney's office says it plans to seek the death 
penalty against a man accused in the death of a 9-month-old boy.

District Attorney Robert James said in a news release Wednesday that his office 
had no choice but to seek death for Devin Thomas because of the "egregious 
nature" of the crime.

Thomas and another man, Marco Watson, face charges including malice murder and 
felony aggravated assault in the May 10 home invasion and fatal shooting of 
KenDarious Edwards Jr. Police say three unarmed women were also injured.

Authorities say the shooting was retaliation after an associate of Thomas was 
killed a few days earlier by a fellow Bloods gang member. Authorities say the 
infant was the nephew of the man accused of killing Thomas' associate.

(source: Associated Press)






FLORIDA----impending execution

Man Who Killed Wife, Stepdaughter to Be Executed


A Florida Panhandle man is set to be executed Thursday for raping and murdering 
his 10-year-old stepdaughter 22 years ago, just minutes after he killed her 
mother.

Chadwick Banks, 43, is scheduled to die at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison in 
Starke for the 1992 slaying of Melody Cooper, who was found on her knees naked 
from the waist down and her body slumped on her bed at a Gadsden County home. 
The body of her mother, Cassandra Banks, was nearby.

Banks, who was 21 at the time, is serving a life sentence for his wife's 
murder. It would be the 20th execution carried out since Gov. Rick Scott took 
office in 2011, 1 fewer than under Jeb Bush, who presided over the most 
executions since capital punishment was reinstated in the state in 1979. Bush 
was governor for 2 terms, while Scott, who was re-elected last week, is 
finishing his 1st.

"Maybe the most solemn duty is capital punishment. I take it very seriously," 
Scott said. "I think about the victims. I think about their families. It's what 
I think about. I'm going to continue to do the job that I committed to do."

Most of the 19 people executed have been the perpetrators of some of the most 
horrific cases Florida's seen, and many of them left no doubt that the 
condemned committed the crime. That includes David Alan Gore, a serial killer 
who raped and dismembered his victims and was caught with the body of a teenage 
girl in his car trunk and a live girl bound in his parents' attic.

Like Gore, Banks admitted to his crime.

Banks' attorneys have asked the federal courts to intervene, arguing Florida's 
lethal injection process violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment and 
that he received ineffective legal counsel. His lawyer, Terri Backhus, didn't 
return a phone message and email seeking comment Wednesday.

Gadsden County Sheriff Morris Young was an officer with the Quincy Police 
Department in 1992 when he got word of a double murder just a few blocks 
outside of the city line.

He and others responded to the trailer where the bodies of Cassandra Banks and 
Melody were found, both killed by gunshot wounds to the head.

"It was one of those gruesome things that happened in the community that had 
everyone in shock. It was a small town and a huge case," Young said this week. 
"They just couldn't believe such a thing could happen in a small town."

Banks was drinking and playing pool at a neighborhood bar called Dut's the 
night of the slayings. His wife left the bar and went to their home late that 
night. Banks left less than an hour later and went into their trailer and found 
his wife asleep. Without waking her, he shot her point-blank in the head then 
went to his stepdaughter's room.

After his arrest, he told investigators he had "spanked" Melody and molested 
her for about 20 minutes, but she didn't resist or try to get away. Evidence 
showed the assault was much more violent. Banks' blood was found under Melody's 
fingernails and on her pillow, and she had a bruise and cut on her face. She 
had also been sodomized and Banks' DNA was found inside her.

Forensic experts testified that given the position of her body, and that it had 
not moved after the shot was fired, Banks had to pull her head far back in 
order to fire the gun through the top of her skull.

Young spoke with Chadwick Banks' father, Dennis, and Cassandra Banks' mother on 
Monday. He said both families accept the execution.

"As sheriff, now I stand with both sides of the family," said Young, who added 
he has known Banks' parents for years. Dennis Banks was a longtime corrections 
officer and ran a security company.

"He and his wife are true believers in God and they've turned this over to 
him," Young said, adding that the Banks have visited their son in prison and 
have prayed with him. "Their son turned his life over to God and they are 
content with everything that's going on."

(source: ABC news)






ARIZONA:

Jodi Arias case resumes with defense testimony


The trial to decide the punishment for convicted murderer Jodi Arias has 
resumed with defense testimony and arguments over whether authorities destroyed 
key evidence.

The trial resumed Wednesday after a nearly 2-week break. The defense this week 
accused authorities of destroying files on the victim's computer that defense 
attorneys say would have helped them in their case.

Defense attorneys say the evidence included files from pornographic websites 
that would have been beneficial in defending Arias.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez told the judge that his expert reviewed the computer 
this week and found nothing of the sort.

(source: Associated Press)






WASHINGTON:

Suspect could face death in LC Valley rape, murder case


A Clarkston man could face the death penalty if convicted of raping and killing 
a 69-year old woman and dumping her naked body on a public beach.

Court documents released Wednesday show that 69-year-old Ina Richardson was 
beaten, strangled and her body was left naked under a blanket at a park near 
the banks of the Snake River, where she was found by a passerby early last 
Friday morning.

Richardson was last seen late Thursday night near the Albertson's in Clarkston. 
Witnesses came forward saying they saw Richardson at the grocery store the 
night she was last seen. She asked at least 1 person for a ride home, but he 
was going the other direction and could not drive her home. According to court 
records, Richardson was seen walking towards a vehicle, described as a 
"box-style, older American-made vehicle" with mismatched hubcaps.

On Monday Clarkston Police Officer Darin Boyd stopped a vehicle matching the 
description of the vehicle. The driver was Bisir B. Muhammad, otherwise known 
as Billy Joe Dallas. He was questioned about his whereabouts the night of the 
murder, but said he was somewhere else and that there's another vehicle 
matching that description in Clarkston.

Police developed enough evidence to search Muhammad's vehicle and inside they 
found condoms, latex gloves and other items in the trunk. He told police he 
knew Richardson, because he used to work at Albertson's and would see her 
there. He denied seeing her that night and said he had never talked to her for 
any period of time. However surveillance video obtained from that Albertson's 
shows Richardson talking to Muhammad for at least 7 minutes on October 31 two 
weeks before she was killed. It also showed Muhammad carrying her grocery bags 
out of the store.

Police asked Muhammad if he would submit to a voluntary DNA test. He stated 
he's a registered Level 1 sex offender because of a prior rape conviction and 
that his DNA is already on file. He was convicted as a juvenile in 1977 on 2 
counts of rape in West Memphis, Arkansas. His criminal history in Arkansas, 
under the name Billy Joe Dallas, also included battery and residential burglary 
convictions.

Muhammad denied a request for a polygraph and asked for an attorney.

Police also questioned Muhammad's wife, who told them she's wheelchair bound 
because of a debilitating disease. "[She] said that Muhammad is very patient 
and loving," according to court documents. His wife acknowledged Muhammad's 
criminal history, but said he had turned his life around in prison and found 
God. Cell phone records show 18 calls between Muhammad and his wife in the 
hours after Richardson disappeared.

After her husband was arrested for murder, Muhammad's wife told police he, 
"wouldn't hurt anyone and that he told her had been called racial slurs and 
'roughed up' the previous day at the Clarkston Police Department." She then 
admitted her husband came home late the night of Richardson's murder and that 
he told her his car wouldn't start, but he was trying to get home.

Muhammad's wife said that when he finally came home, he was "agitated" and 
"evasive." She said he had never been like that in their 6 years of marriage. 
She also said they don't use birth control because they're unable to have 
children, so she couldn't explain why he would have condoms in his car. She 
also said Muhammad never told her he'd been questioned extensively about 
Richardson's murder.

Based on their evidence, Clarkston Police arrested Muhammad on charges of rape 
and murder and Wednesday morning a judge set his bond at $1 million. He could 
face the death penalty if convicted.

(source: KXLY news)