[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, MD., NEB., ARIZ., NEV.

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 27



TEXAS:

Texas appeals court judge calls for abolishing death penalty


Veteran Texas Court of Appeals Justice Tom Price on Wednesday denounced the 
death penalty, saying that Texas' 2005 life without parole law makes it 
unnecessary and that the possibility of executing a wrongfully convicted person 
is an "irrational risk" that should not be tolerated by the criminal justice 
system."

The Dallas Republican's comments, thought to be the 1st time such views have 
been voiced by a judge on the state's highest criminal appeals court, came in a 
strongly worded dissent to the court's Wednesday rejection of an appeal on 
behalf of Scott Panetti, a Fredericksburg double-killer said to suffer from 
schizophrenia. Panetti, 56, is scheduled to be executed next Wednesday.

"Based on my specialized knowledge of this process," Price wrote, "I now 
conclude that the death penalty as a form of punishment should be abolished 
because the execution of individuals does not appear to measurably advance the 
retribution and deterrence purpose served by the death penalty; the life 
without parole option adequately protects society at large in the same way as 
the death penalty option; and the risk of executing an innocent person for a 
capital murder is unreasonably high, particularly in light of 
procedural-default laws and the prevalence of ineffective trial and initial 
habeas counsel."

Price, 61, a former Dallas County state district judge, has served on the high 
appeals court since 1996. His term ends this year and he has said he will not 
seek re-election.

In his statement, Price asserted that "society is now less convinced of the 
absolute accuracy of the criminal justice system."

He cited a 2012 University of Michigan-Northwestern University law school study 
that ranked Texas third nationwide in wrongful convictions during the past 24 
years. He also cited a National Registry of Exonerations report that determined 
2013 was a record-breaking year for exonerations in the United States; Texas 
topped the list.

"In my time on this court I have voted to grant numerous applications for writs 
of habeas corpus that have resulted in the release of dozens of people who were 
wrongfully convicted," Price wrote. "I conclude that it is wishful thinking to 
believe that this state will never execute an innocent person for capital 
murder. ... I am convinced that, because the criminal justice system is run by 
humans, it is naturally subject to human error. There is no rational basis to 
believe that this same type of human error will not infect capital murder 
trials."

Greeted with surprise

Price's comments were greeted with surprise by law professors and appellate 
attorneys active in death penalty cases.

"I'm still absorbing it. It wasn't expected," said Maurie Levin, a former 
clinical law professor at the University of Texas who now is based in 
Philadelphia. "It's long overdue."

While the concerns raised by Price have been "discussed and decried around the 
country for a number of years now ... for a high court judge, a CCA judge, to 
articulate them so forthrightly is extraordinary."

Levin, who frequently has represented Texas death row inmates, said she was 
"deeply grateful" for the judge's statement. "He is somebody we would listen 
to," she said. "He has had a front row seat. ... He is part of a growing chorus 
of people who are intimately involved ... who are uncomfortable with the system 
that implements executions, and that is not nothing."

Rob Owen, a former professor at the University of Texas capital punishment 
clinic and now on the law faculty at Chicago's Northwestern University, also 
hailed Price's statement.

"I think it is important that he makes clear this is not a casual change of 
mind," Owen said. "He's not sentimental, feeling sorry for the guys waiting to 
be executed. He is concerned about public safety, and he says we have an 
alternative punishment that's clearly sufficient in the eyes of many jurors and 
prosecutors and is far quicker than the years of appeals that go with the death 
penalty."

While opinion polls reflect staunch support for capital punishment in Texas, 
Owen noted that "the death penalty is going away everywhere. The number of new 
cases in Texas is dropping steeply - they dropped about two-thirds in the 25 
years I watched them. Every additional voice being raised that we should hasten 
it on its way is helpful and a spark for a lot of public discussion."

'Remarkably brave'

Jani Maselli Wood, an assistant Harris County public defender, an adjunct 
professor at the University of Houston law school and a former Texas Court of 
Criminal Appeals staff attorney, said she doubts Price's statement will 
influence legislators or incoming juries.

But, "it will impact his legacy for what he wants us to remember," Wood said. 
"He says we have life without parole, why do we need death convictions. He is 
remarkably brave. I think it is heroic."

Price's statement came in a dissent to the court's 6-3 vote not to consider a 
new appeal on behalf of Panetti that argues his mental condition "renders him 
categorically ineligible for the death penalty under the Eighth and 14th 
Amendments, because imposition of the death penalty on offenders with severe 
mental illness offends contemporary standards of decency." The court found the 
petition failed to meet requirements for applications of post-conviction writs 
of habeas corpus.

Judges Elsa Alcala and Cheryl Johnson issued a separate dissenting opinion, 
saying they would stay Panetti's execution to allow for an examination of his 
claim that the Eighth Amendment prohibits execution of seriously mentally ill 
individuals.

Panetti was condemned for the 1992 murders of his mother- and father-in-law. At 
age 20, he was diagnosed as schizophrenic. While representing himself at his 
1st trial, he attempted to subpoena Jesus Christ and President John F. Kennedy. 
His lawyers contend that his mental condition has worsened on death row.

In a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving Panetti, justices held that a 
condemned inmate must have a "rational understanding" of his punishment, not 
just an awareness that he is to be executed and why.

(source: Houston Chronicle)

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

Republican Texas Criminal Appeals Judge Calls For End To Death Penalty----"I 
conclude that it is wishful thinking to believe that this State will never 
execute an innocent person for capital murder." After more than 15 years on 
Texas' Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge Tom Price calls for abolition. posted 
on Nov. 26, 2014, at 5:44 p.m.


1 week before Scott Panetti is due to be executed by the state of Texas, a 
retiring, longtime Republican judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has 
announced that he "now believe[s]" the death penalty "should be abolished."

"Having spent the last 40 years as a judge for the State of Texas, of which the 
last 18 years have been as a judge on this Court, I have given a substantial 
amount of consideration to the propriety of the death penalty as a form of 
punishment for those who commit capital murder, and I now believe that it 
should be abolished," Judge Tom Price, first elected to the state's highest 
court for criminal matters in 1996, wrote Wednesday.

Price, who did not seek re-election this year, chose to announce his position 
in a dissenting opinion to the court's rejection of Panetti's request that the 
state stop his execution because, Panetti argues, his "severe mental illness 
renders him categorically ineligible for the death penalty" under the U.S. 
Constitution.

Price's statement was reminiscent of other longtime judges to have sided with 
abolition of the death penalty over time, including, most notably, Justice 
Harry Blackmun's famous 1994 statement, "From this day forward, I no longer 
shall tinker with the machinery of death." Blackmun had made his statement in 
the case of Bruce Callins, who eventually was executed by the state of Texas in 
1997.

The state, which has held more than 400 executions since Price took the bench 
on the Court of Criminal Appeals, leads the nation in executions since the 
death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Panetti would be the state's 11th 
execution this year.

Laying out the U.S. Supreme Court's prohibition on execution of an 
intellectually disabled or insane person, Price compares those prohibitions 
with the continued possibility of executing a severely mentally ill person, 
concluding, "I can imagine no rational reason for carving a line between the 
prohibition on the execution of a mentally retarded person or an insane person 
while permitting the execution of a severely mentally ill person."

Then, he goes further, calling even a blanket prohibition on execution of the 
severely mentally ill "a bandaid solution for the real problem."

"Evolving societal values indicate that the death penalty should be abolished 
in its entirety," Price states, noting that "because the criminal justice 
system is run by humans, it is naturally subject to human error" and stating, 
"I conclude that it is wishful thinking to believe that this State will never 
execute an innocent person for capital murder."

In addition to arguing that life without parole "adequately protects society at 
large in the same way as the death penalty punishment option," he adds that he 
has seen "too many" filings "by ineffective attorneys" in death penalty 
appeals. "I conclude that the increased danger that a wrongfully convicted 
person will be executed for a capital murder that he did not commit is an 
irrational risk that should not be tolerated by our criminal justice system," 
Price concluded.

His opinion on Wednesday was in dissent, meaning that, as of now, Panetti's 
execution is still scheduled to go forward on Dec. 3.

(source: buzzfeed.com)

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

Appeals court judge declares against death penalty


A judge on the state's top criminal court has declared that he now believes the 
death penalty should be abolished as a punishment for capital murder.

Judge Tom Price of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued his declaration 
Wednesday. It was in his 6-page dissent to the court's Tuesday rejection, by a 
5-4 vote, of a reprieve for death row inmate Scott Panetti.

Panetti, a native of Hayward, Wis., has a history of mental problems and his 
case has been to the U.S. Supreme Court at least three times. State attorneys 
have argued he exaggerates symptoms to avoid execution.

Panetti was convicted of fatally shooting his in-laws, Joe and Amanda Alvarado, 
at their Fredericksburg home 22 years ago in front of his estranged wife and 
young children.

His trial judge assigned Panetti a standby attorney after he chose to be his 
own lawyer at his 1995 trial, where he wore a purple cowboy outfit.

The 56-year-old inmate is to die Dec. 3. Panetti's lawyers say they'll contest 
the Wednesday ruling.

Price, who voted with the court minority, has been on the court for 18 years.

(source: Austin American-Statesman)

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

Executions under Rick Perry, 2001-present-----279

Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982-present----518

Perry #--------scheduled execution date-----name---------Tx. #

280------------Dec. 3-------------------Scott Panetti---------519

281------------Jan. 15------------------Richard Vasquez-------520

282------------Jan. 21-------------------Arnold Prieto--------521

283------------Jan. 28-------------------Garcia White---------522

284------------Feb. 4--------------------Donald Newbury-------523

285------------Feb. 10-------------------Les Bower, Jr.-------524

286------------Mar. 5--------------------Rodney Reed----------525

287------------Mar. 11-------------------Manuel Vasquez-------526

288------------Mar. 18-------------------Randall Mays---------527

289------------Apr. 15-------------------Manual Garza---------528

(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)






MARYLAND:

Boonsboro woman wants death penalty to stand for the man who killed her father, 
stepmother


The last time Mary Frances Moore saw her father was the day before he was 
murdered.

Robert Davis had driven up to Boonsboro from Capitol Heights in central Prince 
George's County, Md., on March 18, 1995, to see Moore, his only child, and they 
had dinner together.

As he was leaving, Davis asked his daughter if she had any coat hangers because 
he needed some. She gave him the hangers, he kissed her goodbye and left.

"It was like God let me see him for the last time," said Moore, 71.

The next day Davis and Moore's stepmother, Cleo Davis, were murdered, stabbed 
with scissors by Heath Burch, who admitted in court he was high on crack and 
intended to rob the couple when he broke into their home, according to an 
October 2004 story and a more recent story, both from The Washington Post.

Burch eventually was sentenced to death. His death sentence is 1 of 4 that 
remains from before Maryland repealed the death penalty in 2013.

With Gov. Martin O'Malley's term set to expire in January, he has begun calling 
the families of victims in the 4 cases. An Associated Press story last week 
cited speculation that O'Malley is considering commuting those death sentences.

Moore said O'Malley called her around lunchtime on Monday.

"We talked about the case, but he didn't tell me what he was going to do. I 
think he just wanted to hear about how we felt about it," she said. "So I told 
him how I felt. And that I didn't want him to commute on the Burch case."

It's been almost 20 years since her father and stepmother were murdered. Robert 
Davis was 72 and Cleo Davis 79 at the time.

"I miss him. ... I feel like I still would have had more years with him," Moore 
said Tuesday.

One of Davis' brothers, Alton "Jack" Davis, is still in good health at age 90, 
she said. Her father was a year and a half older than Jack.

Moore said she was raised by her grandmother, with help from her father. Cleo 
Davis had been her stepmother since Moore was about 5 years old and was like a 
mother, she said.

"The bottom line is you like it to be over with," said Moore, noting all of the 
appeals in the Burch case.

"I said to him, 'Well governor, what's your plan? What are you going to do?' 
and he said, 'I don't know.' I said, 'OK. Let's talk. And we talked.'"

Moore said she and O'Malley talked about attending Catholic schools, about 
their children, and that both of their fathers were World War II veterans.

Moore said her father was a radio technician and a gunner with the U.S. Army 
Air Force. He was shot down over France, but the war had just ended, so he 
wasn't captured. When Davis got out of the military, he became a firefighter in 
Washington, D.C., she said.

"I idolized my father. I really loved him. He was just a lot of fun to be 
around. He made you feel good about yourself. He was a good guy," Moore said.

'Horrible thing'

Moore said she was at home in Boonsboro that Monday in March 1995 when one of 
her father's friends called to tell her the Capitol Heights house had been 
robbed, and her father and stepmother had been hurt.

Her father had not shown up at his club that Sunday, and his friend had gone to 
check on him.

It wasn't until she and her son arrived in Capitol Heights that they discovered 
her father was dead, and her stepmother was badly hurt, she said.

"(Cleo) died the day I buried my dad," Moore said.

Moore said Burch had lived with his parents in the house behind her father's 
home, so the men knew each other. They weren't friends, but Moore said her 
father had helped out Burch's mother occasionally.

"It really changes a family, doesn't it, when such a horrible thing happens," 
Moore said. "We all expect to die, but not like that. Nobody deserves to die 
like that."

"I believe he took their lives, and I believe he should give his life up," she 
said.

Death penalty repeal

Burch is 1 of 4 death-row inmates incarcerated at North Branch Correctional 
Institution, a maximum-security prison in Cumberland, Md., Mark A. Vernarelli, 
a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional 
Services, said Wednesday.

At the time the death penalty was repealed in Maryland, there were 5 inmates on 
death row, but 1 has died of natural causes since then, Vernarelli said.

The last death sentence carried out was via lethal injection in a Baltimore 
hospital facility that correctional services operates, Vernarelli said.

The governor's press office could not be reached on Wednesday morning, which 
was a furlough day for state government.

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler filed a brief earlier this month with the 
Court of Special Appeals of Maryland in which he argued that "constitutional 
due process dictates that the death sentence can no longer stand in light of 
the legislature's repeal of capital punishment," according to a news release 
from Gansler's office.

Gansler's filing was in response to an appeal by death-row inmate Jody Lee 
Miles. Gansler's filing argued the court should sentence Miles to life in 
prison without the possibility of parole.

The brief noted that "Maryland no longer has regulations and procedures to 
carry out an execution - even for a crime that was committed and a sentence 
that was imposed before the state's repeal of capital punishment," the release 
said.

Families 'in limbo'

Moore said she told O'Malley to take his time.

"I really don't want you to (commute Burch's sentence). I want you to leave it 
as is. And let the next guy come in, the Republican, and let him take care of 
it, or send it back to the courts to let them decide," Moore said she told the 
governor.

Republican Larry Hogan will be sworn in as governor in January.

Moore said she thinks O'Malley will do the right thing and is grateful he 
called to talk to her.

People talk about death-row inmates being "in limbo," Moore said. "So are the 
victims."

Every time there's an appeal or news in the case, the victims' families "live 
it all over again," she said.

"Especially during the holidays. You think of your family," Moore said.

(source: heraldmailmemdia.com)






NEBRASKA:

Mass Murderer Claims State Should Have Known He Was Mentally Ill Before 
Releasing Him From Prison


The Omaha man convicted of 1st-degree murder in 4 2013 shootings that occurred 
shortly after he was released from prison has filed another lawsuit accusing 
the state of failing to adequately treat his mental illness.

Nikko Jenkins is seeking $1.7 million in damages because he says his mental 
health deteriorated during extended time in solitary confinement.

The 28-year-old Jenkins made some similar claims in 2 other handwritten 
lawsuits filed against officials earlier this year, but those cases were 
dismissed because of technical problems. He asked to have a lawyer appointed to 
handle his latest lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday.

A spokesman for the Department of Correctional Services, James Foster, said the 
department doesn't comment on pending litigation.

Jenkins shot and killed 4 people in Omaha over a 10-day period in August 2013 
and was convicted of 4 counts of 1st-degree murder in April. His sentencing, 
which might include the death penalty, has been delayed because of concerns 
about his competency.

When he filed his latest lawsuit, Jenkins included 177 pages of documents 
detailing his history of mental illness and a transcript of a July hearing that 
focused on his competency.

The documents include reports from prison psychiatrists and psychologists who 
treated Jenkins and recorded his delusions about hearing voices from an 
Egyptian god commanding him to commit violent acts or mutilate his face, which 
he has done several times.

A legislative committee is investigating the way Jenkins' case was handled by 
the prisons and court system. At a hearing Tuesday, state Sen. Ernie Chambers 
revealed that Jenkins had sent him a letter with a razor blade taped to it that 
Jenkins said someone had provided him so he could continue cutting himself.

Corrections officials are investigating how Jenkins obtained the razor blade.

The state Ombudsman's office issued a report in early January that said 
officials should have done more to get treatment for Jenkins when he was last 
in prison. The report said the Department of Correctional Services missed 
several warnings about Jenkins' mental health before his release in July 2013.

Jenkins spent most of the last 2 years of his sentence in isolation because of 
behavior problems. The report said Jenkins' extended segregation kept him from 
participating in programs that might have helped him prepare for life outside 
prison.

Corrections officials should have tried to have Jenkins committed to a mental 
hospital, the report said.

(source: Associated Press)






ARIZONA:

Arizona appeals panel rules no secret testimony in Arias murder case


An Arizona appeals court tossed out a ruling on Wednesday by a judge presiding 
over the sentencing retrial of convicted murderer Jodi Arias to allow a witness 
to testify out of the public eye.

Arias, who faces the death penalty, was found guilty at a sensational trial 
last year of killing her 30-year-old ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, whose body 
was found in the shower of his Phoenix-area home. He had been stabbed multiple 
times, his throat had been slashed and he had been shot in the face.

In a brief order on Wednesday, a 3-member appeals panel overruled an October 
decision by a lower court judge that closed the proceedings to the public for 
testimony by the unnamed individual at the request of defense attorneys.

The October order by a trial judge closing the Maricopa County Superior 
courtroom did not identify which witness was to testify out of public view, but 
the appeals ruling appeared to indicate that witness could be Arias herself.

"It is further ordered that the court grants relief by vacating the superior 
court's order ... closing the courtroom to the public and press during any 
testimony by Jodi Arias," the appeals order stated.

An attorney for Arias, 34, could not be reached for comment.

Arias testified during a high profile trial broadcast live on the Internet that 
she had acted in self-defense in killing Alexander, but prosecutors accused her 
of killing her former partner in a jealous rage over 6 years ago.

The same jury that convicted her later deadlocked on the death penalty, 
prompting a sentencing retrial with a new jury impaneled last month. If this 
jury deadlocks, the judge will sentence Arias to life in prison or life with 
the possibility of parole after 25 years.

Wednesday's appeals panel gave no reason for its decision, adding that a 
written opinion would be issued "in due course."

"The order underscores the importance of the public's right to attend a 
criminal trial, particularly during the defendant's testimony in a capital 
case," said attorney David Bodney, who appealed on behalf of several media 
outlets, adding he would seek a written copy of the testimony.

He could not positively confirm Arias was the subject of the court order, but 
said the appeals ruling seemed to indicate that.

The defense had maintained that the witness would not testify in an open court.

(source: Reuters)






NEVADA:

Nevada justices uphold death penalty for Las Vegas killer


The Nevada Supreme Court Wednesday rejected the petition of death-row killer 
James Ray Walker, who claimed his attorney was incompetent at trial.

Walker was convicted in 2007 of the fatal stabbing of Las Vegas resident 
Christine Anziano, who he robbed as she was leaving a Sav-On drugstore at Lamb 
Boulevard and Bonanza Road on Aug. 23, 2003. During a 24-hour crime spree, 
Walker also robbed and stabbed a Las Vegas man in the back and stole a woman's 
purse from her car.

His girlfriend, Myrdus Archie, was sentenced to life in prison on a habitual 
criminal conviction.

Walker claimed there were at least 11 instances where his attorney was 
ineffective that led to his conviction. He also claimed in his petition for a 
writ of habeas corpus that there was misconduct by the Clark County District 
Attorney's Office.

The court, in a 6-1 decision, disagreed with Walker that he didn't get a fair 
trial because of the many alleged errors by his attorney. The ruling, authored 
by Chief Justice Mark Gibbons, upheld the decision by District Judge Valerie 
Adair.

Justice Michael Cherry dissented, saying the district court should hold an 
evidentiary hearing on some of the claims by Walker. He said there should be a 
hearing on Walker's claim that his attorney failed to introduce expert 
testimony at trial and that the lawyer failed to challenge the admission into 
evidence of uncharged bad act evidence.

Walker had at least 5 prior convictions for such crimes as robbery and assault.

(source: Las Vegas Sun)