[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, ALA., KAN., COLO., ARIZ.

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 24



TEXAS:

Experts: Texas Slowly Moving Away From Executions


For years Texas has executed more prison inmates than any other state, but some 
believe that trend is coming to an end.

Kristin Houle, executive director of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death 
Penalty, says Texas is joining the rest of the nation in slowly moving away 
from executions.

"One of the main factors driving this movement away from the death penalty, in 
Texas and nationally, is the rate or the incidents of wrongful convictions," 
Houle explained.

According to Houle, there has also been an ongoing decline in the number of 
people sentenced to death row. In Texas, she says, the number of new death 
sentences has dropped about 75 % in the last decade.

So far this year, Texas has carried out nine executions and Miguel Angel 
Paredes is scheduled to be put to death on October 28.

Even with the expected death of Paredes, Houle says, "We will have carried out 
the fewest executions in Texas, this year, since 1996."

In addition to fewer death sentences, Houle said the lower number of executions 
is directly related to recent revelations about wrongful convictions.

Some activists are even taking to the streets to demand the death penalty be 
abolished. Rallies are planned across the state before the end of the year, and 
kick off this weekend in Houston with the 15th Annual March to Abolish the 
Death Penalty.

(source: CBS news)

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

After 2 years on the run, Mission capital murder fugitive captured


Police nabbed a 23-year-old man wanted for a 2012 fatal shooting and armed 
kidnapping.

Carlos Olvera stood Thursday in Mission Municipal Court to face charges of 
capital murder and aggravated kidnapping after more than 2 years on the run.

Police said Olvera was believed to have been hiding in Mexico after Rigoberto 
Olivarez's shooting death in December 2012.

U.S. Border Patrol agents caught Olvera, of Diaz Ordaz, Tamps., trying to 
illegally enter the U.S. near Sullivan City on Tuesday. A check of Olvera's 
fingerprints linked him to the outstanding warrant for the Mission capital 
murder case.

Olvera is 1 of 4 suspects investigators say participated in a home invasion and 
botched kidnapping in the 1200 block of West 24th Place that left Olivarez 
fatally shot.

"I did not shoot," Olvera told Mission Municipal Judge Jonathan Wehrmeister in 
Spanish during his arraignment. "I did not have a weapon."

Wehrmeister ordered Olvera, a Mexican national, to be held without bond ahead 
of his trial. If convicted of capital murder, he faces life in prison without 
parole or the death penalty.

Olvera provided investigators with a statement of accused - considered a form 
of a confession - following his arrest, Mission police Det. Eduardo Hernandez 
Jr. said. He identified Jorge Ruiz, Eric Gomez Torres, and Ramon Nevarez as 
fellow participants in the fatal shooting and kidnapping.

The other suspects may still be in Mexico, where they fled after the 2012 
crime, police said.

Investigators believe the 2012 home invasion stemmed from drug trafficking and 
that Olivarez knew Olvera and the other suspects.

Police have said Olvera and 2 married couples, including Olivarez and his wife, 
were at a small party Dec. 22, 2012.

Ruiz and Torres kicked in the door, ordering the 2 couples to lay down on the 
ground, police said following the incident.

Witnesses told investigators that both men wore black masks during the attack.

Ruiz carried a .223-caliber assault rifle later recovered after an 8-hour 
manhunt where the suspects escaped a high-speed chase with police. That rifle 
was later identified as the one that killed Olivarez, whose body was found in 
the kitchen of the house. He suffered 14 gunshot wounds in the attack.

(source: The Monitior)






ALABAMA:

Does the death penalty or life in prison cost more for taxpayers?


Does sentencing someone to death, really cost less? Or is it more cost 
effective to keep someone alive in prison?

The whole conversation sparked from a story we posted about a Lauderdale 
couple, Patricia and Matthew Ayers, being sentenced to 2,000 years in prison 
for sexual abuse of a child.M

Many people took to Facebook to voice their concerns, saying things like: 
"Death penalty, cause I don't want my tax dollars feeding them!"

"Electric chair is cheaper, the way it is now, we have to pay for them as long 
as they live."

But, is that really the case?

"If you'd asked me, which is cheaper, my answer to you is, for my purposes, it 
doesn't matter," Broussard says.

The Vera Institute of Justice estimated in 2010 it cost around $17,000 to house 
an inmate for a year.

Assuming Patricia and Matthew Ayers live to 75, the average life expectancy in 
Alabama, that's between $570,405 and $708,685 in costs to the taxpayers to keep 
them in prison.

That may be a lot, but when you compare it to the costs associated with the 
death penalty, we're looking at possibly an even bigger number.

A study by the Urban Institute in Maryland found that it cost about $37.2 
million for each of Maryland's 5 executions since the state re-enacted the 
death penalty in 1978.

"In court-appointed cases, and most capital murder cases are handled by an 
attorney who is appointed to represent a client on that case, which means the 
state as a practical matter, is going to pay that fee," says attorney Russell 
Crumbley.

According to deathpenaltyinfo.org, the average inmate spends a decade on death 
row.

"The whole appellate process is exhaustive and it is for the purpose, 
ultimately, of making sure that the person really is guilty. That is the 
ultimate punishment in our system," says Crumbley.

According to the Alabama Department of Corrections, there are 193 inmates 
currently on death row.

Arthur Lee Giles has been on death row for 35 years.

"Probably, in my career, me personally, I've had 6 people on death row, and 
I've been here 25 years," says Broussard.

And he says the punishment fits the crime.

"I'm sure there's a lot of debate about what's the cheaper way to go, but of 
something of this magnitude, I have no interest in how those numbers fall," 
Broussard says.

Since the death penalty was enacted in 1983, Alabama has executed 56 people.

(source: WAAY TV news)






KANSAS:

Gov. Brownback speaks out against justices who overturned Carr death penalty


The state's high court is getting a lot of attention after Gov. Sam Brownback 
came out Thursday against the justices who overturned the death penalty ruling 
for the infamous Carr brothers. The move comes after his campaign drew 
criticism for releasing an ad linking his Democratic challenger, Paul Davis, to 
the Kansas Supreme Court's ruling.

"Remember the Carr brothers? Five savage murders. Caught. Prosecuted. Death 
row. Then, liberal judges in Topeka changed that," the ad says. It then goes on 
to say Kansans could expect similar rulings because, as governor, Paul Davis 
would have the power to appoint justices.

The ad has since been criticized by Davis, the former DA who prosecuted the 
Carrs, Nola Foulston, and by the families of the brothers' victims. But Gov. 
Brownback defended the ad.

"Paul Davis wants to continue to appoint liberal judges to that court," 
Brownback said in a debate Tuesday in Topeka. "I want to appoint judges who 
will interpret the law, not rewrite it as they choose to see it to be."

And on Thursday, Brownback went further and endorsed the removal of 2 state 
supreme court justices, Lee Johnson and Eric Rosen, both of whom are up for a 
retention vote in November.

But, legal experts say the justices ruled according to the law.

"The trial judge failed to give each Carr brother a separate trial during the 
death penalty phase," said Dan Monnat, of Monnat & Spurrier. "Since when is it 
only a liberal idea to follow fundamental constitutional principle? Since when 
is it only a liberal idea to give an accused person a fair trial?"

Kansans for Justice, an organization comprised of the Carr brothers' victims' 
family members and friends shares the governor's view that the justices should 
not be retained in November, but say they are not interested in making the 
issue about politics.

"We are saddened the case becomes about politics and not about our loved ones 
who we've lost," said Amy James, the media spokesperson for Kansans for 
Justice.

Jonathan and Reginald Carr killed 5 people and a dog in a gruesome crime spree 
in December of 2000.

(sourcde: ksn.com)






COLORADO:

Death penalty in the Colorado gubernatorial race


Over the past few election cycles, Colorado has become an important 
"battleground state" and a bellwether for larger electoral trends. Featuring 
contested races for both a Senate seat and the Governor's mansion, it is 
arguably the most important site of the upcoming midterm elections. The 
gubernatorial contest has Bob Beauprez, an established figure in the Colorado 
Republican party, attempting to unseat (the previously very popular) Gov. 
Hickenlooper.

Social issues have entered the 2 campaigns in some expected ways - abortion, 
health care coverage, gun safety laws, and marijuana legalization. But during 
these gubernatorial debates, the issue of the death penalty has also briefly 
held the spotlight.

Back in May, Beauprez made a campaign promise that surprised many, since he 
presents himself as a faithful Roman Catholic. "When I'm governor," he said 
during a GOP debate, "Nathan Dunlap will be executed." Or, in a headline 
offered by Mother Jones, "Elect Me, and I'll Kill that Guy."

No one would deny that Dunlap, whose death sentence has been stayed by 
Hickenlooper, was convicted of absolutely horrific crimes. And supporters of 
Hickenlooper also admit that the Governor did not handle his own decision to 
stay the execution very well.

But the Catholic Church's position on the death penalty in modern societies is 
very well-known, despite these facts. No. 2267 of the Catechism reads: "Today, 
in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for 
effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense 
incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the 
possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the 
offender is an absolute necessity 'are very rare, if not practically 
nonexistent.'"

The official document for forming consciences of Catholic voters in the United 
States, "Faithful Citizenship," inveighs against the death penalty in 5 
different sections, saying "continued reliance on the death penalty cannot be 
justified" and "the USCCB supports efforts to end the use of the death 
penalty." To these ideas we can add recent realities: the exoneration of North 
Carolina's longest-incarcerated member of "death row," or the frightful, 
bungled executions that have taken place in recent years.

So how can Beauprez defend his explicit campaign promise to order an execution? 
On October 9, during a general election debate, he did so by reference to a 
private conversation with former Archbishop of Denver, Charles Chaput.

Here's the Denver Catholic Register's write-up of the Q & A:

The comment came in response to a question asked by Kyle Clark of 9News who 
asked: "Mister Beauprez, you have said that your opposition to abortion is 
rooted in your strong Catholic faith. You have called elected pro-choice 
Catholic Democrats 'heretics.' I'm curious how you came to decide that your 
church is right on sanctity of life for the unborn, but wrong on sanctity of 
life as it applies to the death penalty, which you support."

Beauprez responded: "Because I've talked to, let me quote him, Archbishop 
Charles Chaput. And people are very confused about this and that's why I went 
to him, as, I think, a credible source on what Church doctrine is. Many 
Catholic clergy believe, as the governor now says he does, that they're 
anti-death penalty. But the archbishop made it very clear to me. He said, 'Bob, 
you pray on it, sleep on it, reach the conclusion that is right for your soul 
and, he said, I'll back you up, because Church doctrine is not anti-death 
penalty.' I want to be very clear about that."

Clark followed up: "Pope Francis recently said that the death penalty should 
not be used, even in the case of a terrible crime, but you feel that the 
archbishop told you otherwise?"

Beauprez answered: "Yes ... the archbishop was very clear on that. He said 
there are many in the clergy that have a policy position and that's the 
difference between that and Church doctrine. A policy position that is opposed 
to the death penalty. And that's fine. I'll just stipulate: There's moral 
reasons to be anti-death penalty."

In terms of rhetoric, Beauprez's defense was sound: when he was running for 
office in the past, he consulted with the highest Catholic official in his 
jurisdiction, and was told to follow his conscience. But the resurfacing of 
this anecdote invited questions about what Archibishop Chaput had actually 
said. His new archdiocese has offered a short statement:

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia said through a spokesman that Archbishop Chaput 
would be unable to comment on a private conversation between himself and the 
gubernatorial candidate.

However, they added that "Scripture and long Church teaching uphold the basic 
legitimacy of the death penalty. But, the Church also teaches that in the 
developed world, the circumstances requiring the death penalty for the purposes 
of justice and public safety rarely exist. Therefore the death penalty should 
not be used."

As in the Catechism, the death penalty has a "legitimacy" in theory but "should 
not be used." Some have asked whether this statement gives "wiggle room" for 
Catholic candidates for office, but Chaput's record elsewhere would seem not to 
grant any.

In 2002 Archbishop Chaput criticized Catholic Supreme Court Justice Antonin 
Scalia for supporting the death penalty, calling it "cafeteria Catholicism." 
Scalia's is only 1 voice - albeit an influential one - without any power to 
carry out capital punishment. Beapurez, on the other hand, promises to 
disregard church teaching precisely as one who has executive authority - the 
power to execute.

We should not miss that peculiar feature of the situation in Colorado: this 
Catholic candidate for office has made an explicit campaign promise to 
contravene a clear and weighty doctrine of Catholic moral teaching - and to do 
it himself. There is hardly a "degree of cooperation" argument in this case, as 
we have with other moral reasoning about democratic elections and candidates' 
values.

With most other issues, a politician's platform indicates aspirations to 
certain goals, which sometimes include indirectly facilitating an immoral 
practice, usually one that is already readily available to the electorate. But 
in this case, Beauprez promises that his election will directly lead to 
Dunlap's execution. The causal link between the stroke of his pen and the sting 
of a needle is beyond doubt.

It's a macabre campaign promise for anyone to make, but especially for a 
Catholic.

(source: Commonweal)

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

Colorado Considered Giving Death Row Inmates More 'Leisure Time' Outside Cells


Colorado's Department of Corrections considered allowing death row inmates, who 
are normally confined to their cells, to have 4 hours per day of "leisure time" 
in which they can walk around inside and outside the facility.

Details of this idea were spelled out in an internal email in March, which was 
recently obtained by the website Complete Colorado.

"We allow offenders with a sentence of life without the possibility of parole 
to walk around our medium and close custody facilities, who pose no different 
risk than those with sentences of the death penalty," wrote DOC employee Kellie 
Wasko. "So are we really managing those offenders whose sentence is different - 
however, the same - effectively and equally? We believe that we can do better!"

She goes on to describe a new policy that would allow death row prisoners to be 
allowed out of their cells for 4 hours, together, without staff members present 
in a communal area called a "dayhall." Prisoners can also spend time outdoors 
or in shower areas, she wrote.

"[W]e decided that while they are out in the dayhalls, and we are assessing how 
this will work, we would consider this dayhall a 'NO STAFF ZONE' at this time," 
Wasko wrote. "So that means that while the offenders are out in their dayhall 
for their out-of-cell time, staff will not enter into that dayhall for any 
reason while we assess how this will work for our organization."

In an article on its website, Complete Colorado wrote that it's unknown whether 
the Department of Corrections actually implemented the new policy, but an 
unidentified staffer said it's troubling the idea was even proposed.

"Just the mere fact they would even put it out department-wide that they were 
looking to implement something like that had so many staff shaking their 
heads," the employee told the site, noting the employee does not work on death 
row.

The changes were proposed as Colorado began an overhaul of its policies on 
solitary confinement, known as administrative segregation. Last year, an inmate 
who'd spent much of his time in solitary murdered corrections chief Tom 
Clements and a pizza delivery man while on parole. Clements' successor, Rick 
Raemisch, spent 20 hours in solitary as an experiment, leaving with what he 
described as an "urgency for reform" in an article he wrote about the 
experience in the New York Times.

Colorado has three inmates on death row: Richard Ray, convicted of ordering a 
hit on witnesses set to testify against him on another murder charge; Sir Mario 
Owens, the man who pulled the trigger in the witness killings; and Nathan 
Dunlap, who killed 4 people in a holdup at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant.

Although Wasko said in her email that the inmates have no history of behavioral 
problems in their current confinement to solitary, and should therefore be 
allowed out of their cells from time to time, District Attorney George 
Brauchler, whose office prosecuted Dunlap, said a change in policy makes no 
sense.

"The reason for Administrative Segregation is pretty obvious," he told Complete 
Colorado, "which is, once you've told someone, 'We're going to leave you in 
prison until we have the ability to kill you, until we have the ability to take 
your life,' they are a much bigger risk than others."

(source: Daily Caller)






ARIZONA:

2nd Juror Dismissed From Death Penalty Trial After Talking to Reporter


Things aren't looking good in the Jodi Arias sentencing retrial now that 2 
jurors have already been dismissed from the case just 2 days into the trial.

The penalty phase of the Jodi Arias retrial started on Tuesday as prosecutors 
presented their opening arguments to persuade the jury into sentencing the 
convicted boyfriend killer to the death penalty.

However, one of the 12 jurors was let go due to an ongoing family emergency on 
the 1st day of the retrial. The next day, a 2nd was let go for talking to a 
reporter that she thought was HLN talk show host Nancy Grace.

Altogether 12 jurors and 6 alternates were selected from a pool of hundreds of 
people earlier this month. However, there will be a mistrial if there are less 
than 12 jurors to serve on the panel.

Juror No. 9 was dismissed Wednesday after she asked a freelance TV journalist 
if she was Nancy Grace, a nationally renowned television personality and a 
vocal opponent to Arias, reports AZ Central.

The incident took place during a morning break as Beth Karas, a former 
on-camera reporter and commentator for HLN, was being interviewed by 12 News 
about the case.

Although Karas says she realized that a juror was standing nearby, she assumed 
that she couldn't hear the interview. Once she returned inside of the 
courthouse, a woman approached asked if she was Nancy Grace. In response, Karas 
told her that she used to work with Grace and then reported the incident to the 
court.

As a result, Juror No. 9 was dropped from the case and Maricopa County Judge 
Sherry Stephens reiterated to the remaining 16 jurors that they are prohibited 
from discussing the case, watching TV, consuming news media and using social 
media, reports USA Today.

Arias, 34, was convicted of the 1st-degree murder of her ex-boyfriend Travis 
Alexander in May 2013. According to medical examiners, Arias stabbed him 27 
times, primarily in the back, torso and heart in his Phoenix home in 2008. She 
also slit Alexander's throat from ear to ear, nearly decapitating him, and shot 
him in the face before she dragged his bloodied corpse to the shower.

Although the aspiring photographer was found guilty in the case, the jurors 
failed to reach a unanimous decision on her sentencing. As a result, the 
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)