[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----UTAH, ARIZ., CALIF., WASH.

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 19



UTAH:

Committee approves idea to bring back firing squad in Utah


Lawmakers have given a preliminary nod to bringing back the firing squad as a 
method of execution in Utah.

Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, proposed the bill that would bring back the firing 
squad only in the event that lethal injection was not available. Ray told the 
Utah State Legislature's interim law enforcement and criminal justice committee 
that he was being proactive.

"It gives us some maneuverability," Ray told the committee.

Lethal injection has come under fire as a method of execution after a botched 
execution in Oklahoma. Ray said the European company that makes lethal 
injection drugs has also refused to sell the cocktail because it is opposed to 
the death penalty.

Utah did away with the firing squad as a primary method of execution in 2003. 
Some death row inmates are grandfathered in. The last firing squad execution 
was Ronnie Lee Gardner in 2010.

Some lawmakers on the committee were skeptical of the idea.

"What problem does this solve?" Rep. Mark Wheatley, D-Murray, asked.

"A long, drawn out legal battle," Ray replied.

Jean Hill of the Salt Lake Catholic Diocese spoke out in opposition of the 
bill, calling it inhumane.

"The state's role is to not take revenge on people," she told the committee. 
"The state's role is public safety."

The bill passed out of the interim committee on a 9-2 vote. It will now go on 
to the full Utah State Legislature for consideration.

(source: Fox News)






ARIZONA:

Judge Delays Death Penalty Retrial Without Giving a Reason


There has been yet another delay in the Jodi Arias sentencing retrial.

After returning from recess on Monday, Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens 
announced that the trial will be postponed until Thursday because of an 
emergency situation, CBS 5 in Arizona reports. She didn't give any further 
details.

According to legal expert Beth Karas, this type of delay in a court case is 
common, especially considering the nature of the Arias retrial.

"It could be something in the personal life of one of the defense attorneys, or 
Juan Martinez or the judge," Karas explained. "How unusual is it for the Jodi 
Arias case? It is very typical. This case moves at a snail's pace."

However, an inside source revealed to the news station that neither the jury 
nor the trial was the cause of the mysterious emergency hindrance.

Earlier that day, Micia Fonseca, a clinical psychologist who specializes in 
twisted sexual behavior, continued to testify on behalf of the defense. She had 
previously testified about murder victim Travis Alexander's inner conflict 
between his religious conviction and sexual desires. Defense attorneys are 
trying to convince the jury that Alexander was a sexual deviant who emotionally 
abused Arias.

Fonseca described Alexander as having a mastery of deception and a "Dr. Jekyll 
and Mr. Hyde" personality Monday morning. Fonseca also alluded that Alexander 
communicated unpure thoughts about sexuality with minors, reports ABC 15 
Arizona.

Also on Monday, state prosecutor Juan Martinez filed a motion to put sanctions 
against Arias' attorneys, alleging that a defense witness damaged a computer 
that could have been used as evidence in the case. The defense witness was 
expected to testify that Alexander's visited multiple pornographic websites. 
However, the prosecution's motion claims that the computer was damaged so that 
the state's computer expert could not re-examine it.

The motion also claims that the defense delivered computer files "to an 
individual named Tony," who was not involved in the case.

In May 2013, Arias, 34, was convicted of brutally murdering Alexander, 30, 
inside of his Phoenix, Arizona, home in June 2008. According to medical 
examiners, Arias stabbed him 27 times, primarily in the back, torso and heart. 
She also slit his throat from ear to ear, nearly decapitating him and shot him 
in the face.

Although Arias was found guilty of 1st-degree murder charges, the jury failed 
to reach a unanimous decision on her sentencing. As a result, the jury in her 
retrial will determine whether she should be sentenced to death, life in 
prison, or life with a chance of release after serving 25 years.

(source: Latin Post)






CALIFORNIA:

Jurors deliberate death penalty of man convicted in 1983 Garden Grove rape, 
murder


Jury members are weighing the fate of a convicted killer who raped a woman and 
stabbed her to death in a desolate alley behind a Garden Grove bar in 1983, 
beginning deliberations Tuesday on whether he should return to death row.

Nearly 30 years after he was first convicted in the death of 22-year-old 
Kimberly Gonzalez, the life of Richard Raymond Ramirez is once again in the 
balance, as the jury decides whether he should get the death penalty or serve 
life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Gonzalez met Ramirez at Mr. Barry's Bar in Garden Grove in November 1983, where 
he danced with her, kissed her, then walked her into a dirty alley behind the 
business where he stabbed her more than 20 times and sexually assaulted her.

The case has taken a circuitous route through the criminal justice system. 
Ramirez was first convicted in 1985 and spent several decades at San Quentin 
before the conviction was overturned on appeal in 2008. He was convicted again 
last year, but that jury deadlocked on whether Ramirez should receive the death 
penalty, causing a mistrial.

During the current trial, Ramirez's attorney acknowledged that he is guilty of 
the rape and murder, along with the rape at knife point of another woman 
several years earlier. The attorney argued, however, that Ramirez's upbringing 
in a severely dysfunctional family dominated by an alcoholic and violent 
father, as well Ramirez's year's of drug abuse beginning in his teens, should 
give the jury enough reason to spare his client's life.

"He deserves to spend every second of every day in jail, and that is where I 
want you to send him," Deputy Public Defender Mick Hill told the jury during 
his closing arguments on Tuesday. "He does not deserve to have a lethal 
injection put in the same veins he used to poison himself as a child."

Prosecutors argued that his history of violence and the callousness toward his 
victims warranted the ultimate punishment. During his closing arguments, Deputy 
District Attorney Larry Yellin showed the jury photos of Gonzalez's lifeless 
body left sprawled in the dingy and dark alley, her clothes covered in blood 
and her pants and underwear pulled down to her feet and knees.

"Don't let him take the sympathy that belongs to her," Yellin said. "He has 
already taken her life, don't let him take that."

(source: Orange County register)






WASHINGTON:

Judge orders Muhammad be appointed lawyer qualified in death penalty cases


A decision means the man accused of raping and murdering a Lewiston woman is 
getting a new attorney qualified for handling death penalty cases.

Tuesday afternoon Asotin County Superior Court Judge Scott Gallina ordered 
Bisir Muhammad to be appointed a lawyer who's qualified to handle a death 
penalty case.

The prosecutor hasn't filed charges against Muhammad that would show cause for 
the death penalty, but the option is still on the table.

Muhammad's Attorney, Victor Bottomly, has been ordered to draft a list of 
qualified attorneys from the Supreme Court's roster and present it to the court 
by 10:00 a.m. on November 24th.

Muhammad is accused of raping and murdering 69-year-old Ina Clare Richardson, 
and dumping her body near Beachview Park in Clarkston.

(source: KLEW news)