[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----GA., FLA., ALA., OHIO, ARK., KY.

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 13



GEORGIA:

DeKalb County prosecutors to seek death penalty in fatal shooting of 
9-month-old boy


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 3 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

Florida man set to be executed for 1992 murders of wife and stepdaughter


A 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 6pm EST (2300 GMT) 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. 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 governor Rick Scott 
took office in 2011, one 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 two terms, while Scott, who was re-elected last week, is 
finishing his first.

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.

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.

Banks was drinking and playing pool at a neighbourhood bar on 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. Banks' 
DNA was found inside her.

(source: The Guardian)

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

Family's wait for justice may end Thursday


Annette Black and her family have waited 22 years for justice.

Thursday, the man convicted of killing her daughter and granddaughter, Chadwick 
D. Banks, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in 
Starke.

Black, now 67 with a resigned demeanor, still lives in the Gadsden County 
community where her daughter Cassandra Banks, 30, and her 10-year-old 
granddaughter Melody Cooper were killed. The day following the murders she told 
the Democrat she had no anger toward Chadwick Banks.

22 years later she still feels that way.

"I've waited 22 years. I've never believed that my husband and I would live to 
see justice," Black said Monday. "I'm not mad with him. I don't hate him. He 
started something and this is the end of it."

Banks, who had recently married Cassandra Banks, shot her and Melody in the 
head with a .32 caliber revolver at their Quincy home on Sept. 24, 1992. The 
girl also had been raped.

Black, who is planning to attend the execution, called losing her daughter and 
granddaughter to someone they loved and trusted "treason." To talk about it 
among family is still impossible, she said.

"It's so terrible we can't even talk about it," Black said. "Nobody ever says 
anything about it. You get to a point where you don't cry any more. It's beyond 
sadness."

Banks, who was 21 at the time, confessed to the crimes the next day after their 
bodies were found by a family member. Cassandra Banks was found in her bed; 
Melody was kneeling on the floor facing her own bed.

Cassandra Banks, who worked in Tallahassee at the Apalachee Center, married 
Chadwick Banks 2 months before the murders, which occurred after the couple 
argued at a Quincy pool hall.

Witnesses told the Gadsden County Sheriff's Office the argument took place just 
before 2 a.m. Cassandra Banks left the pool hall alone. Chadwick Banks returned 
home about an hour later.

A neighbor he said he saw him waiting for several minutes outside the mobile 
home in the dark. He entered without turning the lights on.

Banks was seen leaving an hour later. He went to a relative's house where he 
slept for a few hours and stashed his gun before going to work. He was arrested 
there a few hours after Cassandra and Melody's bodies were found.

He was convicted in 1994 of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder and 1 count of sexual 
battery on a child under 12 after pleading no contest and was sentenced to 
death. Banks' 2 efforts to appeal his sentence were denied. Gov. Rick Scott 
signed his death warrant Sept. 22, almost 22 years to the day of the crimes.

His attorney, Terri Backhus of Tampa, appealed challenging the use of Florida's 
lethal-injection drugs on the grounds they violate the U.S. Constitution's ban 
against cruel and unusual punishment because it presents a risk of pain and 
suffering. The motion is similar to ones the high court has repeatedly denied 
in other death-penalty cases.

She also appealed on grounds that her clients' post conviction counsel lacked 
the resources or staff to mount a proper appeal, failed to uncover details 
about Banks' mental illness and child abuse he suffered and missed a federal 
appeals deadline.

Backhus said that she has tried unsuccessfully to obtain public records on the 
process of binding of prisoners to the gurney in the execution chamber; 
changing the way prisoners are covered during the execution to avoid witnesses 
seeing movement that could indicate pain or suffering during the administering 
of the drugs and the remodeling of the execution chamber.

She also sought a stay of execution, which the Supreme Court recently denied, 
and filed an emergency motion to stop the execution earlier this week.

Monday, the Florida Catholic Conference urged Scott to reduce Banks' penalty to 
life in prison without parole.

If he is executed, Banks would be the 19th Florida death row inmate executed 
during Scott's first term in office, the most of any Florida governor. The 
43-year-old would be the 89th prisoner executed since 1979, following 
reinstatement of the death penalty in Florida.

Black said the effects of the murders reach past the 2 families. That they were 
committed by someone close to the family is what has altered lives.

"That's what makes it so very painful," she said, "A lot of people were 
devastated by this mess, but nothing can erase what happened. It takes 
something from your life."

(source: Tallahassee Democrat)

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

State attorney pushes for harsher punishments as sensational murder cases 
increase


As central Florida sees an increase in sensational murder cases the State 
Attorney's Office is pushing punishment to fit the crimes.

16-year-old Alexandria Chery never got a chance to realize her dream of 
becoming a doctor because she was brutally slain. Now, the suspect in her 
killing, Sanel Saint Simon, could be administered a lethal injection if 
convicted.

Alexandria was beaten and stabbed to death over the summer, her body dumped in 
the woods.

Detectives believe Saint Simon committed the crime, and he's now facing a fate 
reserved for the most heinous criminals.

"There are cases so horrific a sentence of life imprisonment is a cop-out for 
us," said State Attorney Jeff Ashton.

Right now, there are 8 open capital punishment cases, a number Ashton said 
hasn't been matched since the 1990s.

"My personal experience and attitude has something to do with it," said Ashton. 
"It also is, of course, reflective of the times we live in and the cases we 
get."

WFTV legal analyst Belvin Perry presided over many capital cases as chief 
judge.

"It tells me the level of violent crimes that fit into the worst of the worst 
have occurred here in central Florida," he said.

Alexandria's family said it's the only way to get justice.

"Make sure Sanel gets what he deserves for a crime he committed," said Ray 
Joseph.

While it's more expensive than a life sentence, Ashton believes national 
support for the death penalty is still strong.

Right now, 12 people he helped send to death row are awaiting execution.

(source: WFTV news)

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

Lutz triple murder trial delayed again


After more than 6 years of legal wrangling, the capital murder trial of a Lutz 
man accused of murdering his girlfriend and her 2 children has been delayed 
another month.

This time, the forces at work are beyond the control of defense attorneys and 
prosecutors. The state's final witness - a mental health expert who evaluated 
Edward Covington and was supposed to testify in his trial - went into labor 
last week and won't be able to appear in court until early December.

Covington's trial is expected to resume Dec. 11.

In late October, on the 2nd day of his trial, Covington, 42, pleaded guilty to 
all of the charges against him and waived his right to have a jury recommend a 
sentence of life in prison or death to the judge. He wanted a quick resolution, 
he said, and closure for the victims' family.

"I expect you to sentence me to death," he told the judge. "I feel it's 
warranted. The Freibergs feel it's warranted. The state feels it's warranted. I 
have no problem with this."

On May 12, 2008, Covington was found cowering in a closet of a Lutz mobile home 
near the mutilated bodies of his girlfriend, Lisa Freiberg, 26, and her 2 
children, Zachary, 7, and Heather Savannah, 2. He was charged with 3 counts of 
1st-degree murder and abuse of a human body, as well as animal abuse for 
killing Duke, the family's German shepherd.

Covington's attorneys have argued he does not merit the death penalty because 
his violence was born out of years of mental illness, not vengeance or 
misplaced rage.

In their rebuttal, prosecutors have called on a psychologist who testified that 
Covington is not mentally ill, but is instead a psychopath with an entrenched 
crack cocaine habit.

(source: Tampa Bay Times)

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

An execution in Florida and how often the U.S. uses capital punishment


On Thursday evening, the Florida Department of Corrections is scheduled to 
execute Chadwick Banks. The execution comes 2 decades after Banks, who is now 
43, was sentenced to death for killing his wife, Cassandra, before sexually 
assaulting his 10-year-old stepdaughter, Melody, and killing her as well.

Banks asked the state Supreme Court to stay the execution, a request that was 
denied by the court earlier this month. While Banks ate his final meal (fried 
fish, French fries, hush puppies and three types of dessert) on Thursday, his 
wife's relatives spoke of the long wait for peace. Banks was sentenced not long 
before turning 23, so he has spent nearly 1/2 of his life on death row.

"I've waited 22 years," Annette Black, Cassandra Banks's mother, told the 
Talahassee Democrat. "I've never believed that my husband and I would live to 
see justice."

The execution, which is set to occur after 6 p.m. at the Florida State Prison 
in Starke, will be the 8th in Florida so far this year, tying the state with 
Missouri for the 2nd-highest number in the country (trailing only Texas, which 
has executed 10 people). This would be the 1st time since 1994, the year Banks 
was sentenced, that Florida has executed that many people in a single calendar 
year.

This would also be the 32nd execution in the United States this year, which 
means the country won???t match a two-decade low. So far, the United States has 
executed 31 inmates in 2014, the same number of executions carried out in 1994. 
The country has exceeded that number every year since, a period marked by a 
surge in executions after 1994 and a gradual decline in recent years. The 
fewest number of executions since 1994 was the 37 inmates put to death in 2008.

The Banks execution was 1 of 3 originally scheduled to occur Thursday across 
the United States. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) signed an execution 
warrant for Miguel Padilla in September, but that was stayed by a district 
judge.

Oklahoma, meanwhile, had planned to put Charles Warner to death on Thursday. 
Warner was originally scheduled to die in April, the 2nd of 2 executions 
scheduled for the same night. But after the 1st execution was botched - Clayton 
Lockett writhed and grimaced during the lethal injection, drawing considerable 
attention and criticism - so Warner's execution was called off and then pushed 
back to November. A state investigation found problems with the execution team 
as well as the state's execution plans, and the state said it planned to change 
its protocols going forward.

Last month, Oklahoma asked a state court of appeals to delay 3 executions 
scheduled for this year - Warner's execution, another in November and a 3rd in 
December - because the state did not have the drugs or medical personnel 
needed. This comes at a time when states with lethal injection are having 
problems finding the drugs to use in these executions. Oklahoma had used a new 
lethal injection drug for the 1st time during Lockett's execution, but the 
state's review pointed to problems with the IV rather than the drugs. The 
Oklahoma court agreed and the executions were all pushed into next year, 
beginning with Warner's new execution date on Jan. 15, nearly 9 months after 
the botched Lockett execution that was scheduled to precede his.

(source: Washington Post)






ALABAMA:

Judge: Tutwiler inmate can pursue parole lawsuit----A Tutwiler inmate who says 
a 2003 statute specifically -- and unconstitutionally -- denied her the chance 
of parole will be allowed to pursue a suit against the law


A federal judge Monday declined motions from the state to dismiss the suit 
brought by Judith Ann Neelley, convicted in 1983 of the brutal murder of a 
13-year-old Georgia girl. Neelley initially received a death sentence for the 
crime, but then-Gov. Fob James commuted her sentence to life in prison in 1999.

The commutation would have made Neelley eligible for parole this year. However, 
the Alabama Legislature passed a law in 2003 -- retroactive to 1998 -- that 
made any commutations of death sentences automatically life without parole. 
Citing the 2003 law, the Board denied Neelley's parole request earlier this 
year.

Neelley filed suit in April, arguing that the law violated the U.S. 
Constitution's bans on ex post facto laws and bills of attainder. The state 
argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed because the statute of limitations 
had run out and that the 2003 law was not punitive and, therefore, could not be 
considered either an ex post facto statute or a bill of attainder.

U.S. Chief District Judge Keith Watkins, however, ruled Monday that the law was 
punitive in nature, and rejected the state's claims that the law was not meant 
to target her, citing media coverage of the law and lawmakers' own words about 
the act.

"Although the Act does not mention Plaintiff by name, the facts in Plaintiff's 
amended complaint plausibly support her allegation that she was targeted by the 
Legislature's amendment . . . not only because the legislators sponsoring the 
bill allegedly vocalized their intent to "fix" Governor James's supposed error, 
but also because Plaintiff is the only person to receive a commuted sentence 
since 1962, and because the Legislature suspiciously made the Act retroactive 
to four months prior to the January 1999 commutation," Watkins wrote.

A request for comment from the Alabama attorney general's office was not 
immediately returned Wednesday. Attorney Julian McPhillips, representing 
Neelley, said Wednesday that Neelley's "chances of getting out of prison in 
this life are probably going to be difficult."

"It might entitle her to go before the Board of Pardons and Paroles, but she'll 
probably be opposed by various people," McPhillips said, adding "she's struck a 
good blow for civil liberties and civil rights, even though it may not benefit 
her in the long run."

Neelley was convicted of murdering Lisa Ann Millican in 1982. According to 
reports, Millican was sexually abused, injected with drain cleaner and shot 
while standing on the edge of Little River Canyon near Fort Payne. Millican's 
body was discovered lodged in a tree trunk.

Neelley's attorneys do not dispute the facts of the case, but have argued she 
was dominated by her husband Alvin, who died in Georgia in 2005 while serving a 
life sentence. The Neelleys are believed to have murdered a Georgia woman 
before kidnapping Millican from a shopping center in Rome, Ga.

"What she did was done under a great deal of duress and the influence of her 
husband," McPhillips said. "Unless you've been there as an abused woman, you 
can not know the influence of an overbearing husband."

The jury at Neelley's 1983 trial voted 10-2 for life imprisonment, but the 
presiding judge in the case overruled the decision and imposed the death 
penalty. In a 2002 interview with The Post, a weekly paper based in Cherokee 
County, James did not cite a specific reason for commuting the sentence, but 
said the jury's initial recommendation of life sparked his interest in the 
case.

Neelley had argued that the law violated the Alabama Constitution; however, 
Watkins dismissed that part of the lawsuit, noting federal courts are not the 
venue for allegations of state constitutional violations.

(source: Montgomery Advertiser)

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

Man charged in death, dismemberment of stepfather


A south Alabama man is facing charges in the death and dismemberment of his 
87-year-old stepfather, whose body parts were found scattered around a 
community near Mobile Bay, authorities said Wednesday.

William Alvin Minton, 55, is charged with murder and corpse abuse in the 
killing of Kenneth Bryan Hood of Foley, said Baldwin County Sheriff Huey Mack.

District Attorney Hallie Dixon said the charge could be upgraded to a capital 
offense punishable by a potential death penalty, depending on the evidence 
turned up by investigators.

"I think we're at the maximum level of horror at this abuse of corpse case," 
she said. "This is among the worst I've seen."

Officials told a news conference they believe Hood was killed in the home he 
shared with his wife and Minton. Authorities said Minton was a registered sex 
offender, convicted of sodomy and child molestation in Georgia in 1996.

Over the weekend, body parts began showing up around Magnolia Springs, a 
community located near Mobile Bay. A resident found part of an arm and a hand 
on Sunday. Searchers have since found a torso in a creek along with a head and 
other severed parts.

"I think there was a level of planning that was scary ... the cutting up of the 
body and getting down to the water and all of those things, to us, were 
indicative to a well-thought out and scarily cold (situation)," said Dixon.

Mack said it appeared Hood had died of blunt-force wounds to the head, neck and 
chest.

He said the motive wasn't clear.

Minton was arrested on Tuesday north of Montgomery in Millbrook, where Hood's 
wife, Carolyn Hood, was located unharmed.

Investigators said the body contained a pacemaker, which helped them identify 
Hood as the victim.

(source: Associated Press)






OHIO:

Ohio Supreme Court justices won't step down in Ashford Thompson's death penalty 
case


2 Ohio Supreme Court justices say they won't step down from former Glenwood 
Drive resident Ashford Thompson's death penalty case despite a defense 
attorney's allegation of potential bias.

The lawyer for condemned killer Thompson, now 30 and on death row in the 
Chillicothe Correctional Institution for the July 2008 murder of Twinsburg 
Police Officer Joshua Miktarian, said Nov. 10 that Justices Judi French and 
Sharon Kennedy cast votes that upheld Thompson's death sentence in the midst of 
campaigns that focused on their support for law enforcement.

French and Kennedy both said Nov. 13 without comment they won't step down.

Defense attorney Rachel Troutman wants a new hearing for Thompson, arguing 
campaign commercials for both justices demonstrated a tough-on-crime strategy 
that would be undermined by granting relief to a man who had killed a police 
officer.

At issue is the court's 4-3 ruling Oct. 29, which upheld Thompson's death 
penalty after an appeal by Thompson.

French, who wrote the majority opinion, ruled that the intentional way that 
Thompson shot Miktarian outweighed the offender's arguments for mercy.

"The nature and circumstances of the crime do not support Thompson's claims of 
panic," French wrote.

In a dissent, Justice William O'Neill said evidence showed Thompson was 
confused and frightened after he was pulled over and mistakenly believed the 
officer was going to attack him.

Miktarian, 33, of Tallmadge, was shot twice at close range July 13, 2008, then 
twice more with the barrel pressed against the officer's head, after pulling 
Thompson over for loud music and suspicion of OVI just before 2 a.m. Thompson 
was arrested at his sister's Bedford Heights apartment later that night after 
the shooting with the officer's handcuffs hanging from his right wrist, 
according to the court's ruling.

Thompson's execution has been set for April 5, 2017.

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

Hearings begin on measure to keep names of execution drug providers secret


The names of pharmacies that provide execution drugs to the state would be kept 
secret, under legislation being considered in the Ohio House.

House Bill 663 had its 1st hearing Nov. 12 before the Ohio House's Policy and 
Legislative Oversight Committee, a couple of days after it was introduced. The 
Republican leaders of the Ohio House and Senate have said they want to move the 
law changes before the end of the year.

Co-sponsoring Reps. Jim Buchy (R-Greenville) and Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said the 
legislation is needed to address concerns raised about Ohio's administration of 
the death penalty.

Executions have been on hold for most of the year, after a federal judge 
postponed scheduled lethal injections while state prison officials consider 
changes to the execution process.

The stay was initially implemented following the prolonged death of Dennis 
McGuire in January, who received a capital sentence for the rape and murder of 
a pregnant Preble County woman.

McGuire was the 1st inmate executed using a new two-drug combination; the 
process took about 25 minutes, and witnesses described him gasping for breath.

State prison officials who reviewed his execution said McGuire was "asleep and 
not conscious" and "did not experience pain, distress or air hunger" during his 
lethal injection.

The next scheduled execution, pending additional delays, will be Ronald 
Phillips on Feb. 11.

Under execution protocols adopted last year, state prison officials could 
purchase lethal injection mixtures from compounding pharmacies -- a change that 
was made after the manufacturer of such drugs refused to sell them for use in 
executions.

But Attorney General Mike DeWine said last month that state prison officials 
have had difficulties finding pharmacies willing to provide the state's lethal 
injection drug because they don't want to be identified publicly.

HB 663 would provide confidentiality to anyone involved in the procurement of 
lethal injection drugs.

"These changes are necessary because Ohio and most other states have exhausted 
their options for purchasing chemicals used in lethal injections, largely 
because European manufacturers will not sell drugs for executions," Buchy said. 
"As such, legislation is needed to allow for compounding pharmacies to legally 
combine materials into compounds that can be used for executions and to provide 
for the anonymity and legal immunity for these compounding pharmacies."

HB 663 has the support of prosecutors across the state.

But Democratic members of the Policy and Legislative Oversight Committee 
questioned the bill and the pace at which it's moving through the legislature.

Rep. Michael Curtin (D-Columbus), retired editor of The Columbus Dispatch, also 
voiced concern about changing state law to exempt execution drug information 
from public records laws and the scope of records that would be covered by the 
proposed law changes.

"That could have tremendous unintended consequences, and all I'm asking for is 
whether the sponsor and the proponents of this bill feel that this must be 
solved in lame duck session when clearly we don't have the time to bring all 
the people we'd like to bring in to understand the consequences of what we're 
doing," Curtin said.

Rep. Matt Lundy (D-Elyria) added, "I just don't see where we can actually 
verify... Shouldn't we have some knowledge that we're getting what we're 
actually paying for?"

(source for both: Twinsburg Bulletin)






ARKANSAS:

Judge orders mental exam for NewmanJudge orders mental exam for Newman


Rickey Dale Newman must undergo a court-ordered mental evaluation over the 
objection of his attorney.

In Crawford County Circuit Judge Gary Cottrell's Nov. 5 order, if Newman 
refuses to cooperate, the examiner is directed, if possible, to provide an 
opinion on whether Newman's unwillingness to cooperate is the result of mental 
disease or defect.

Newman, 56, was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to die at the end of 
a one-day trial in Crawford County Circuit Court on June 10, 2002, for the 2001 
murder of Marie Cholette, 46, at a Van Buren homeless camp. Newman represented 
himself, confessed to the crime and asked jurors to sentence him to death.

On Jan. 16, 2014, the state Supreme Court ruled Newman was incompetent to stand 
trial when he was convicted in 2002 and ordered a new trial.

Ron Fields, former Sebastian County prosecuting attorney, was appointed special 
prosecutor on the case in August.

Fields was appointed after Prosecuting Attorney Marc McCune recused himself at 
the request of Newman's attorney, Julie Brain, who argued McCune participated 
in questioning Newman in May 2002, and was a potential material witness.

On Oct. 10, Fields filed a motion asking Cottrell to order an exam to determine 
if Newman is competent to stand trial. Fields cites a Sept. 17 letter Newman 
sent to the court in support of his motion.

In the letter, Newman professes his innocence, while also expressing his desire 
to die.

"Death is my only peace. All though I am not guilty of Marie Cholette murder in 
2001. And all the real evidence show 100%. I am not guilty. I am not guilty of 
killing anyone ever," Newman wrote, in part. "I want a jury trial. NO DEALing 
but a Jury Trial!! No matter what anyone say I want this jury trial with death 
on the table. I better off dead. And not in the HELL I live in."

Fields argued in his motion that the defense previously argued on appeal that 
Newman's wish to die was "indicative of unfitness to proceed." He also argued 
that Newman sending the letter without consulting with Brain also shows a 
potential lack of understanding of the proceedings.In her response, Brain 
argued the court should disregard Newman's letter because he is represented by 
counsel and it was sent against her advice.

However, if the letter is taken into consideration, it should be considered in 
context, Brain said.

There is a significant difference in having thoughts of death and actively 
engaging in behavior to cause your own death; the state is not seeking the 
death penalty, so Newman is in no danger of being executed; unlike previous 
behavior, Newman is not seeking to sabotage his chances of acquittal; and 
Newman maintains his innocence, she said.

"Properly understood, the letter is merely an innocuous expression of the 
frustration that occasionally, and fleetingly, overwhelms Mr. Newman - a 
frustration that is understandable given his present circumstances and the fact 
that he has spent over 13 years on death row for a crime he did not commit," 
Brain argued in her response to Fields' motion.

Brain also argued the state is seeking a 2nd mental exam on fitness to proceed 
because they didn't like the result of an exam earlier this year.

In April, Mark Peacock, director of the state hospital postdoctoral fellowship 
in forensic psychology, notified Cottrell that Newman's unwillingness to 
cooperate with an examination - at the direction of Brain - to assess his 
current mental state or fitness to stand trial made any ongoing effort to 
forcibly treat or "restore" his fitness to stand trial potentially "unsafe" and 
doesn't serve the best interest of the state hospital or Newman.

In a May 15 letter, Billy Burris, forensic services program coordinator at the 
state hospital, notified Cottrell that Newman exhibited no signs or symptoms of 
a major mental illness during his stay at the hospital and does not require 
continued hospitalization. Burris noted that his letter did not constitute a 
formal opinion on Newman's fitness to proceed and informed Cottrell that Newman 
would be returned to Crawford County.

In November 2009, the state Supreme Court remanded Newman's case to circuit 
court after a psychologist who found Newman competent to stand trial admitted 
errors in his evaluation during a 2007 federal court hearing, and questions 
were raised about whether the state withheld evidence from the defense.

Cottrell presided over a 5-day hearing that ended March 18, 2011, during which 
he heard extensive testimony from prosecution and defense mental health experts 
regarding Newman's competence to stand trial in 2002.

In a 5-page ruling issued the following July, Cottrell ruled Newman is mentally 
retarded but was competent to stand trial in 2002.

In June 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Atkins v. Virginia that executing 
a mentally retarded defendant is "cruel and unusual punishment" prohibited by 
the Eighth Amendment.

In court hearings and court filings, Brain has argued the state withheld 
evidence when Newman was tried in 2002 and Newman is innocent and his 
confession was a product of his mental illness.

Newman has gone back and forth through the years, allowing appeals to be filed 
on his behalf and then asking that all appeals be dropped. In 2011, Newman 
asked Cottrell to halt a hearing on his appeal so he could be executed.

(source: arkansasnews.com)


KENTUCKY:

DNA and the Death Penalty in Kentucky Public News Service


State Sen. Robin Webb says more needs to be done to make sure Kentucky does not 
execute an innocent person. So, when lawmakers return to Frankfort in January, 
Webb says she will file a bill to address concerns about biological evidence, 
lineups, interrogations and mental health issues.

Webb admits, she personally is conflicted about the death penalty. "You know, 
the thing is, we have it, I don't think it's going away and we've just got to 
make it fair and make sure that justice prevails," she stresses. It was just 3 
years ago, next month, that the American Bar Association released a report 
outlining the myriad of ways Kentucky does not "ensure the fair and efficient 
enforcement of criminal law in death penalty cases."

The report found that there have been a number of cases where biological 
evidence sought for retesting has been lost or unavailable. Webb, who 
represents three counties in northeast Kentucky, says a bill passed in 2013 
(House Bill 41) did expand access to DNA testing. But, she says more needs to 
be done to protect the preservation of that biological evidence.

"And preserved for the entire period of incarceration for these individuals and 
even if a perpetrator has not been captured, or there's an open case, that this 
evidence has got to be maintained, and be maintained properly," she says.

Webb filed a bill during last winter's legislative session (Senate Bill 202), 
but it did not come up for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Rev. Pat 
Delahanty, who chairs the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, says 
while the Coalition is happy with efforts to reduce chances of executing the 
innocent, there's a better solution.

"The best thing to do is to repeal the death penalty and keep in place that 
very reasonable, common sense punishment of life without parole that protects 
all of us and ensures that we never put an innocent person to death," he says.

Delahanty points out that the American Bar Association report has raised so 
many concerns - with 95 recommendations for change to the death penalty law - 
that it would take millions of dollars to fix.

(soruce: publicnewsservice.org)

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

Death row inmate's sentence could be overturned


A death row inmate convicted of a 1995 murder in Knox County wants a lesser 
sentence that would spare his life.

44-year-old John Mills admitted to killing gospel singer Arthur L. Phipps.

"Some of my dad's music makes me very emotional," said Phipps' daughter, 
Truleen Morgan. "I really can't listen to it much. It makes me very emotional, 
because I sang those songs with him."

The music and the memories are all Morgan has left of her father.

She says he and her brother-in-law were the first people to find her father 
after the attack.

"He was beaten and tortured. His throat was slashed. He had 29 stab wounds. It 
was a horrendous thing."

A year later, a jury found John Mills guilty and recommended the death 
sentence.

Mills has maintained over the years that his lawyer did not represent him well 
enough.

Last month, the Kentucky Supreme Court decided to allow Mills a new penalty 
phase, and the chance to get off of death row.

"I think the death penalty is the best thing for this man," said Morgan. "He 
has so much anger. I wouldn't want him out on the streets again, so I certainly 
hope he never gets out of prison."

Now nearly 20 years since Phipp's murder, his daughter says the memories of 
that day are no less painful.

"It's sad that we can't put it behind us," she said. "Of course there's no 
closure, never any closure once something like this happens."

Whatever happens, Morgan says she will never stop fighting for her father.

Prosecutors say there is a chance the U.S. Supreme Court will decide to take up 
this case.

They say Mills' murder conviction would remain intact even with a new trial, 
and he could still end up with the death penalty.

(source: WYMT news)