[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., N.C., FLA., ALA., LA.

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 25


PENNSYLVANIA:

Washington County woman on death row gets new penalty hearing


A Washington County woman who has been on death row since being convicted of 
starving to death her 7-year-old daughter will receive a new penalty hearing 
because her lawyer failed to present evidence that may have convinced the jury 
to spare her life, the state Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.

However, the justices rejected a request for a new trial by Michelle Sue Tharp, 
45, who was convicted 14 years ago of 1st-degree murder for the death of her 
daughter, Tausha Lee Lanham.

The girl weighed less than 12 pounds and was under 3 feet tall when she was 
found dead in bed on April 18, 1998, at the family's home in Burgettstown, 
according to trial testimony.

Tharp and her then-boyfriend, Douglas J. Bittinger Sr., placed Tausha's 
emaciated body into a car seat in a vehicle with Tharp's other three children 
and proceeded to run errands before driving to Follansbee, W.Va., where they 
stuffed the remains into a garbage bag and left it on the side of the road, 
according to testimony.

Bittinger, 42, is serving a 15-to-30-year sentence for his conviction on a 
charge of 3rd-degree murder. Tharp's other children were not abused.

The justices concluded "there is a reasonable probability that at least 1 
juror" may have voted to spare Tharp's life had her attorney presented 
mitigating evidence from psychiatric specialists about her mental and emotional 
problems.

This evidence "characterized (Tharp's) life as having been plagued by 
abandonment by her mother, neglect by her drug-dealing father, abuse by her 
stepmother and ... documentary evidence corroborating (her) claims that she had 
been the victim of domestic violence at the hands of her previous boyfriends," 
the justices wrote.

(source: triblive.com)

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

Martin's death sentence affirmed by state Supreme Court


The state Supreme Court Wednesday affirmed the verdict and death sentence of 
Jeffrey Robert Martin, who was convicted by a Greene County jury 6 years ago of 
the rape and murder of a 12-year-old Greensboro girl.

Martin, 57, of New Geneva raped and strangled Gabrielle Miranda Bechen June 13, 
2006, when she left her home to visit a nearby horse farm where he worked as a 
farmhand. Martin used a backhoe to dig a grave, where he placed her body, and 
hid her all-terrain vehicle and belongings elsewhere on the farm.

Searchers looked for Bechen for 5 days before 2 volunteers found the girl's ATV 
buried in manure. That discovery led to Martin's arrest and his eventual 
confession to the killing.

First Assistant District Attorney Linda Chambers, the lead prosecutor in the 
case, said Wednesday she was pleased with the court's decision.

"It was surprising how long it took the Supreme Court to make a decision on a 
case I believe was clear cut," she said. Chambers noted the court held oral 
argument on the case more than 2 years ago, in April 2012.

Martin's attorney, public defender Harry Cancelmi, could not be reached for 
comment.

On May 9, 2008, following a s-day trial, Martin was found guilty on all counts, 
including 1st-degree murder, rape and aggravated indecent assault. During his 
trial, Martin took the stand to recant his confession. He claimed another man 
was responsible for the girl's death.

The following day it took jurors less than an hour to decide Martin should be 
put to death for the crime.

Before a death penalty sentence can be rendered, the prosecution must prove at 
least one aggravating circumstance. In Martin's case, the commonwealth alleged 
2 aggravating circumstances: that Martin killed Bechen during the course of 
raping her, and Martin killed the girl to keep her quiet about the sexual 
assault.

The jury determined both aggravating circumstances were proven.

Jurors also considered various mitigating circumstances raised by the defense. 
According to testimony, Martin grew up in a chaotic household rife with 
alcoholism, physical and sexual abuse and neglect. Martin also was determined 
to be borderline mentally disabled.

The Supreme Court opinion was written by Justice Seamus McCaffery and joined by 
four other justices. Justice Thomas G. Saylor filed a dissenting opinion.

In his appeal, Martin questioned whether evidence was sufficient to support the 
jury's guilty verdict for the charges of rape and sexual assault. He argued 
because there was insufficient evidence to prove the killing was committed 
during the perpetration of these crimes, the jury considered non-existing 
aggravated circumstances when it imposed the death sentence.

The court, however, determined sufficient evidence was presented to support the 
verdict. It cited testimony regarding the sexual assault presented by Dr. Cyril 
Wecht, who conducted the autopsy, as well as Martin's own confession, in which 
he said he strangled the girl after he told her she would tell her parents he 
molested her.

Martin also argued his arrest was unlawful, and as a result, statements he made 
to police were tainted and should have been suppressed. He said police had no 
probable cause to arrest him. The only evidence they had against him prior to 
his arrest was that he worked on the farm near the missing girl, he said.

Martin was initially arrested for tampering with evidence, giving false 
information and hindering a police investigation when 4 days after Bechen's 
disappearance her ATV was found buried under manure where Martin had very 
recently spread the material.

The court said it must focus on whether the arresting officer had relevant 
knowledge to conclude an offense was committed based on the "probability, and 
not prima facie showing, of criminal activity."

The relevant circumstances that warranted the arrest, the court said, included 
Bechen's disappearance, the inability of searchers to find her and the 
discovery of the ATV purposely hidden in manure, which was Martin's duty as a 
farm hand to collect and spread.

These facts would lead a person "with reasonable caution" to conclude Martin 
was "probably involved" in the girl's disappearance, the court said.

In his dissenting opinion, Justice Saylor, disagreed, saying he believed police 
lacked probable cause to arrest Martin. Others had access to the property and 
the instruments by which the ATV was concealed, he said.

Saylor said he did not believe there was any "reasonable inference" of Martin's 
involvement with the victim or the ATV at the time that would rise to the level 
of probable cause to effectuate his arrest.

Martin is currently an inmate at SCI-Graterford, according to state Department 
of Correction web site.

Bechen, the daughter of Christopher and Blanche Bechen, would have been 20 
years old this year.

(source: Observer-Reporter)

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

Courtroom rules announced for alleged Upper Merion baby killer during trial


Raghuandan Yandamuri is accused of killing a 61-year-old grandmother and 
kidnapping and later killing her 10-month-old granddaughter in Upper Merion in 
2012, and just like the circumstances of the alleged crime, not much is normal 
in terms of how the trial will be conducted.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Yandamuri, which is rare in 
itself, but Yandamuri has elected to represent himself for the guilt phase of 
the trial. In May, Yandamuri fired his court appointed attorney Stephen Heckman 
and decided to represent himself. Judge Steven O'Neill allowed Heckman to 
remain on the case as stand-by counsel.

Heckman may not make objections to arguments or questions posed by the 
commonwealth, but will be there to offer guidance during the course of the 
trial which is expected to last up to 3 to 4 weeks.

Often times in trial, attorneys will leave their table and walk around the 
court room for opening arguments or to question witnesses. However, those 
procedures change when the person representing his or herself has been remanded 
to custody for the course of the trial.

Yandamuri will be allowed to leave the table he will be seated at during trial; 
however, he may not approach the jury. Judge O'Neill has essentially split the 
courtroom in half and Yandamuri may approach that half-way mark, which is 
roughly 5 to 10 feet away from the jury box, but he may not get any closer. It 
is likely that Yandamuri will stand at a podium positioned at the designated 
halfway point to make opening arguments.

Defendants representing themselves is unusual, but not something entirely new 
to Montgomery County

In May, The Times Herald reported on the trail against Giovanni Mucci who was 
accused of assaulting a man at a work site in Whitpain. Mucci also represented 
himself and, like Yandamuri, was remanded to custody for the duration of his 
trial. Mucci was ordered to remain seated at his table so that sheriff's 
deputies would not have to get up when he got up. The judge did not want the 
jury to be prejudiced by the fact that Mucci was in custody during trial.

If Yandamuri gets up, deputies will most likely stand for security, but will 
allow him limited mobility throughout the courtroom.

When it comes to witnesses, many attorneys will approach the witness stand to 
ask questions or pass documents to the witness. Judge O'Neill has also ordered 
that Yandamuri is allowed to approach law enforcement witnesses, but is not 
allowed to get close to the witness stand when family members of the victims' 
testify.

(source: reporteronline.com)






NORTH CAROLINA:

Henry McCollum's Innocence and the Stakes for Death Row Inmates in a Red State


When North Carolina's Republican lawmakers repealed the Racial Justice Act, 
those on death row who were wrongfully convicted lost a crucial tool for 
getting a 2nd chance.

Henry McCollumn rises in a courtroom in Lumberton, North Carolina, to learn of 
his release from prison after serving 31 years for a crime he didn't commit.

On Tuesday, September 2, in a courtroom packed with his family members, his 
original lawyer, and even members of family members of the eleven-year old girl 
from Red Springs, North Carolina, he had been convicted of raping and murdering 
, death-row inmate Henry McCollum , a death row inmate, saw his conviction 
overturned after being in jail for 31 years.

"Henry, I think, was overwhelmed," said Vernetta Alston, a staff attorney at 
the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, which helped with McCollum's case. "I 
think it's still taking him a while to soak it all in. I think folks were very 
relieved."

The decision not only granted McCollum his freedom but it also took away an 
archetype. McCollum was used by conservatives as a rationale for capital 
punishment, his face used on campaign mailers to paint Democrats as soft on 
crime. Justice Antonin Scalia pointed to his case as for a reason to maintain 
the death penalty.

While, in an unlikely turn of events, McCollum was able to establish his 
innocence, the chances of justice for others in his circumstance have gotten 
slimmer. Last year, North Carolina lost a vital avenue to helping many people 
in situations similar to Henry McCollum's, a loss that could lead to the 
execution of other innocent people.

In the 2001, 2 professors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
conducted a study determining that murder cases with a white victim had a 
death-sentencing rate almost twice as high. The numbers were even more 
disproportionate when the victim was white and the defendant was not.

"The death penalty was most likely to be given when a non-white individual was 
the defendant and the victim was white," said Isaac Unah, one of the 
researchers who conducted the study and a professor of political science at 
UNC-Chapel Hill.

The study provided a framework for what would be known as the Racial Justice 
Act. The law, sponsored by state Senator Floyd McKissick, Jr., would allow 
defendants to petition to show that racial bias had been a factor in issuing a 
capital punishment sentence and could in turn have their sentences commuted to 
life in prison without parole.

"The Racial Justice Act ... tried to level the playing field in cases that 
deserved closer examination," McKissick said in an interview. "The Racial 
Justice Act sent a strong message to prosecutors that that prejudicial conduct 
would not be tolerated."

As a result of the act, four people in North Carolina had their death sentences 
commuted. More evidence also mounted that there had been evidence of racial 
bias in the past. A study by Michigan State University found that prosecutors 
in North Carolina had selected juries in a way that was biased against 
minorities, striking out qualified African Americans at more than twice the 
rate they excluded potential white jurors. The study also found that of 159 
death row inmates in the state, 31 were sentenced by all-white juries, and 38 
were sentenced by a jury with only one minority member.

But the law was highly unpopular with state Republicans. In the subsequent 2010 
midterm elections, a mailer was distributed featuring McCollum ostensibly as 
the kind of horrififying criminal the law could set free, despite the fact the 
law was never meant to release prisoners.

"He was clearly used by the forces that ultimately repealed the Racial Justice 
Act as a poster child," said Rob Schofield, director of research at North 
Carolina Policy Watch.

The mailer slammed state legislator Hugh Holliman for his support of the law, 
saying the Racial Justice Act could lead to his and another convicted 
murderer's release. As if the smears were not despicable enough, the targeting 
was particularly tone-deaf because Holliman's own daughter had been abducted, 
raped and murdered. Her murderer was executed. (The chairman of the North 
Carolina GOP later apologized.)

the smears against Holliman were reminiscent of the infamous Willie Horton ad 
used to smear Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential election

"If we still had people like Hugh Holliman [in the legislature], then we might 
be thinking more carefully," Engel said, noting that the smears against 
Holliman were reminiscent of the infamous Willie Horton ad used to smear 
Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential election.

In 2010, when the Republican Party gained both houses of the legislature for 
the 1st time since 1898, they began work on repealing the Racial Justice Act. 
But Democratic Governor Bev Perdue vetoed a bill that would have virtually 
invalidated the law.

It was only after Republican Governor Pat McCrory was elected in 2012 that the 
law was repealed. At the end of the General Assembly session, North Carolina 
House Speaker Thom Tillis touted the repeal as ending "the de-facto moratorium 
on the death penalty in North Carolina."

With the recent release of Henry McCollum and Leon Brown, Republicans have one 
less boogeyman to use to scare voters in North Carolina, but this likely does 
not mean that there will be a reconsideration of capital punishment or the 
Racial Justice Act while the GOP remains in power.

While the Racial Justice Act was not used to free prisoners, and McCollum and 
Brown were not freed based on the law, McCollum???s and Brown???s case was a 
case in miscarried bias and injustice. McCollum, who, like his brother, had an 
IQ below 70, was coerced to sign a confession. Similarly, it was found that the 
state had worked to remove 3 black jurors.

But without the Racial Justice Act, many who were sentenced based on race, and 
quite possibly innocent people like McCollum run the risk of being executed.

"This case should shake people's confidence now we know everyone [tried for 
brutal crimes] is guilty," said Engel. "We're now where we're re-fighting 
battles we thought we won. There's trying to be retrenchment."

Meanwhile, upon news of the release of McCollum and Brown, the response of some 
politicians like Tillis - who is now running for U.S. Senate and could not be 
reached for comment - has been disturbing. Shortly after the release, Tillis 
said to Think Progress, "At least the process worked."

"I'd like to see what happens when it's not working," Engel said. For Tillis, 
the idea that 2 half-brothers with low IQs could spend three decades in prison 
for a crime they didn't commit before being released is justice and not the 
fact that they had to wait for years.

"I think it's unfortunate," McKissick said. "It speaks to his character and to 
his values."

Similarly, Paul "Skip" Stam, who helped establish with the Innocence Inquiry 
Commission that helped free McCollum but who opposed of the Racial Justice Act, 
told local media that among the people remaining on death row, there is no 
chance that any might be innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted.

But in the past 10 years, 5 death row inmates - 4 of them black, including 
McCollum and Brown - have been exonerated in North Carolina, according to the 
Death Penalty Information Center. In 1 instance, a man was sentenced to death 
by an all-white jury despite no physical evidence.

Unah said he believes the innocence of McCollum should show the repeal of the 
Racial Justice Act needs to be re-examined.

"For the Racial Justice act to be repealed and just about a year later and have 
someone on death row for 30 years to be found to not [have] committed a crime 
has to raise some questions to examine this issue," Unah said.

McKissick on the other is not as optimistic. Sadly, it is unlikely that the 
Racial Justice Act will be reviewed as long as the GA remains under Republican 
control. As a result, convicts who were targeted for capital punishment because 
of their race will be executed, perhaps including inmates who never committed 
the crime for which they were convicted. McCollum may be innocent, but the 
archetype created by the right could long outlast the memory of his innocence, 
and that is just as tragic as his wrongful conviction.

(source: The American Prospect)






FLORIDA:

Gov. Rick Scott Signs 20th Death Warrant for Execution of Chadwick Banks on 
Nov. 13


Gov. Rick Scott on Monday signed the death warrant for Chadwick Banks, who 
murdered his wife, Cassandra Banks, then raped and murdered his 10-year-old 
stepdaughter, Melody Cooper, on Set. 24, 1992 in Gadsden County. Banks shot 
both victims in the head. He is to be executed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. on 
Nov. 13 at the Florida State Prison in Starke.

It is Scott's 20th death warrant, well ahead of any other governor's 1-term 
record of executions since the death penalty was re-instituted in Florida in 
1976. Jeb Bush ordered the execution of 21 people during his tenure, but he did 
so over 8 years. The Banks execution will be the 8th this year in Florida, 
which accounts for more than a quarter of the 30 executions in the nation so 
far in 2014.

Scott signed law, called the Timely Justice Act, to fast-track executions last 
year. At the time, 132 inmates were certified at least partially death-warrant 
ready. Banks???s name was added to the list, along with that of five other 
inmates, in January.

According to his file at the Commission on Capital Cases, the state agency that 
compiled data on death penalty cases - in 2011, Scott and the Legislature cut 
off its funding and repealed the law that had created it - Banks was arrested 
on Sept. 28, 1992, and charged with the double murders and child rape. He 
pleaded no contest on all counts. The next day, March 4, 1994, a jury found him 
guilty on all counts and voted 9-3 to recommend the death penalty for Melody's 
murder. Florida is the only state other than Alabama where a unanimous jury 
recommendation is not required for the death penalty - and where a simple 
majority carries the same weight as a unanimous vote. Alabama is the only other 
exception, but at least 10 of the 12 votes are required for a death 
recommendation.

Banks, now 43, filed a series of appeals in state and federal courts between 
May 1994 and July 2005. He argued, as many defendants on death row do, that 
he'd received ineffective representation.

"Specifically," the Florida Supreme Court reported, "Banks argues that he was 
denied effective assistance of counsel because counsel failed to seek the 
assistance of a mental health expert in order to explain the potential 
mitigating evidence concerning beatings Banks received from his father from the 
age of 3 to the age of around 11 or 12 and Banks' abuse of alcohol. Banks 
contends that counsel's decision not to present this type of evidence was not a 
strategic decision because counsel did not seek the assistance of a mental 
health expert before making the decision. At the evidentiary hearing in the 
trial court, Banks presented the testimony of Dr. Larson who, in essence, 
opined that Banks' abuse of alcohol was his method of dealing with the physical 
abuse he suffered as a child. Dr. Larson indicated that this type of testimony 
could have been presented as mitigating evidence."

Banks lost all appeals.

(source: flaglerlive.com)






ALABAMA:

3rd day ends in jury selection for University Heights shooter


Jury selection for the alleged University Heights shooter's murder trial 
finished its 3rd day on Wednesday, Sept. 24 with a final list of 45 potential 
jurors.

Desmonte Leonard is charged with the killing of DeMario Pitts and former Auburn 
football players Ladarious Phillips and Ed Christian on June 9, 2012. 3 others 
- Eric Mack, Xavier Moss and John Robertson - were injured in the shooting.

A final list of 45 potential jurors will be narrowed down to 12 jurors and 3 
alternates on Thursday, Sept. 25.

When the list was presented to the courtroom, defense attorney Susan James 
raised objections because the list only had 5 African-Americans.

The list of 45 potential jurors was randomly generated by a computer after the 
court qualified 59 of the 102 jurors that were called on Monday, Sept. 22.

"I think this list is under representative of the community as a whole," James 
said.

Judge Jacob A. Walker suggested they could randomly generate another list, but 
District Attorney Robert Treese objected.

"Once you start creating a new random list because you don't like it, it loses 
its randomness," Treese said.

Walker said the court would go with the original list but would allow arguments 
from James citing any precedent for creating a new random list on Friday, Sept. 
26.

Prosecutors said they would be seeking the death penalty in the case.

92 potential jurors were broken up into 15 panels that met on Tuesday and 
Wednesday and were asked questions individually regarding their views on the 
death penalty.

"I've read the scripture and searched my heart, and I believe in the death 
penalty," Juror 113 said.

Some potential jurors were less emotional about the death penalty.

"I believe if a person is convicted of murder then the death penalty is 
justified," Juror 112 said.

Other potential jurors disagreed with the death penalty.

"I could not bear the thought of (Leonard's) soul being in my hands with the 
death penalty," Juror 99 said.

Another potential juror added his view.

"I don't feel like 2 wrongs make a right," Juror 106 said.

Most potential jurors said they would be able to make an unbiased judgment, but 
a few said they had heard too much about the case.

"You'd have to present a very strong case for me to conclude (Leonard) is not 
guilty," Juror 101 said. "If you were to ask me today I would say guilty, but I 
think I could be fair."

Juror 104, who was removed from the pool on Wednesday, knew the victims from 
her work at the Auburn Athletic Department Writing Center.

"Ladarious, if he met me in public, he'd give me a big open hug," Juror 104 
said. "He was a special guy."

Juror 104 added all of the victims had been in a class she taught in 2010.

"It was crushing to hear they were killed." Juror 104 said. Opening arguments 
are expected to be begin Friday, according to Treese.

(source: The Auburn Plainsman)






LOUISIANA:

Study commission looking at La. death penalty


A New Orleans state senator is trying to determine how much Louisiana's 
agencies spend on the death penalty.

Sen. J.P. Morrell, a Democrat, is leading a new study commission looking at 
capital punishment. Its 1st meeting was Wednesday.

Morrell says he's looking for ways to streamline the process for dealing with 
capital cases, litigation that can stretch over decades. He says the data is 
critical to decision-making.

But tensions were obvious at the opening meeting of the commission, which 
includes people who support and oppose the death penalty, along with officials 
from the legislative auditor's office and the corrections department.

Louisiana's last execution was in 2010, and plans for the next lethal injection 
have been put on hold amid an ongoing legal dispute about the drugs that will 
be used.

(source: Associated Press)

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

Testimony ends in Sanders' penalty phase with focus on mental illness


Though he walked out on her when she was 8, Thomas Steven Sanders' daughter had 
a message for him while testifying Wednesday as the last defense witness in the 
penalty phase of his trial.

"He needs to know that I love him, and he needs to know that with these 
illnesses he can overcome and live a fuller life than he has ever lived," said 
Shawna Rosellini, 36.

Mental illness played a central role in Wednesday's testimony, as it has in 
other days as the defense strongly has asserted that it was Sanders' mental 
illness that caused him to kill Suellen Roberts and her 12-year-old daughter, 
Lexis Roberts, in 2010.

Sanders was convicted on Sept. 8 of kidnapping and killing Lexis Roberts. The 
jury now must decide whether Sanders goes to death row or lives out the rest of 
his years in prison.

The defense, led by Gerald Zerkin, called Rosellini, who lives in Lincoln, 
Neb., around 9:45 a.m. Wednesday. When asked to identify Sanders in the 
courtroom, Rosellini pointed to him and said, "That's my daddy."

Rosellini admitted she'd had no contact with her father until after he was 
arrested in 2010 in connection to Lexis Roberts' death.

On the stand, Rosellini described her life with mental illness as a "massive 
roller coaster." She also talked about her father.

"I thought I had seen him once or twice riding a bicycle or walking by my 
house," Rosellini told the jury.

Rosellini also suffers from mental illnesses, taking about 2,800 milligrams 
daily for bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic 
stress disorder, chronic anxiety, chronic depression and attention deficit 
hyperactive disorder.

The defense also brought in a clinical social worker, a psychiatrist and a 
neuropsychologist, each demonstrating their assessments that Sanders was 
genetically predisposed to mental illness and substance abuse, and that his 
family environment molded him to become the man who murdered his girlfriend and 
her daughter.

And according to testimony from at least 2 mental health experts, "a fuller 
life" is not what Sanders wants.

Sanders told clinical psychologist Kevin Bianchini during his assessment that 
he would not discuss certain symptoms of psychosis. Bianchi said Sanders told 
him, "I want them to execute me, so I ain't gonna give them any reason not to."

Defense witness Pablo Stewart, a psychiatrist who spent 20 hours with Sanders 
over 3 years, testified that Sanders also told him he wanted the death penalty.

What Sanders hasn't said to anyone, however, is why he killed Suellen Roberts 
and Lexis Roberts.

"I never got the idea of the 'why,'" forensic psychiatrist John Thompson said. 
"He didn't want to talk about the why. He certainly appeared capable, but there 
were some issues he didn't want to talk about."

Bianchini and Thompson, both expert witnesses for the prosecution, testified 
that Sanders didn't appear to have memory lapses, but that he simply didn't 
want to talk about the events that led up to him shooting Suellen Roberts.

Bianchini told the jury that Sanders told him he didn't "want to blame anything 
on (his) upbringing."

Still, acquaintances of Sanders from his time in Las Vegas - a period when he 
was homeless and totally alone, having left three wives and four children - 
remember Sanders, or "Spider," as a good guy.

Selina Johnson, an elderly woman who knew him from his employment at a storage 
unit in Las Vegas, referred to Sanders as one of her best friends. She recalled 
moments when Sanders did nice things for her. He made such an impression that 
she sent him a thank you card after his incarceration.

"I pray for you," the card reads. "I do not judge you. I know God has forgiven 
you. Forgive yourself."

Johnson told that jury that doesn't know Sanders as a murderer, but as a 
friend.

"We all make mistakes," she said. "As human beings, there's good in all of us. 
All I know is how he treated me. There's a good side to him."

Closing arguments will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday.

(source: The Town Talk)