[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., DEL., FLA., ALA., MISS.

[Rick Halperin]

April 23



TEXAS:

Execution drug supplier secrecy bill moving forward in Texas House



Legislation that would keep secret the names and addresses of manufacturers and 
suppliers of the drugs the state uses to execute death row inmates, is moving 
fast in the Texas Legislature.

On Wednesday, a week after the House Government Transparency & Operation 
Committee held a public hearing on House Bill 3846 Rep. John Smithee authored, 
the 7-member panel voted 5-2 to send the proposed legislation to the full House 
for consideration.

The measure, which Smithee, R-Amarillo, filed shortly before the March 13 
bill-filing deadline, is expected to pass easily in the 150-member chamber 
because Republicans outnumber Democrats almost 2-1.

Next week, the Senate is also expected to approve a similar bill Sen. Joan 
Huffman, R-Houston, filed - shortly before the bill-filing deadline, too.

There is a sense of urgency to pass the proposed legislation because it is a 
bill the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton - a former House member 
and state senator - and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the agency in 
charge of state executions, asked Smithee to carry.

The bill request came in the aftermath of drug suppliers being threatened with 
violence for supplying the lethal drugs to the state.

Moreover, in early April the American Pharmacists Association adopted a policy 
of not supplying pentobarbital - a sedative and sleep-inducing drug injected to 
the inmates - to Texas and 7 other states that use it to execute prisoners.

Adding to the sense of urgency, the Department of Criminal Justice said at the 
end of March the agency had dosage only for its April executions.

"This bill isn't really about the merits or the lack of merits of capital 
punishment," Smithee told the Government Transparency & Operation Committee 
when he laid out HB 3846 last week.

"The purpose of this bill is to give a level of confidentiality, a level of 
protection under the public information laws" to the manufacturers, 
distributors of the lethal drugs, Smithee said.

"Many of these vendors who supply these doses to the state have refused to do 
it any further," he explained. "It's just not worth the risk of violence."

There was no doubt the committee would vote for the bill because in an exchange 
with a witness, panel chairman Gary Elkins said the threats of violence made to 
the drug manufacturers or suppliers were serious.

"People have become begin demonstrating violence against people that they don't 
agree with or have made contributions to causes that they don???t believe in," 
Elkins, R-Houston, said.

Although advocates of transparent government criticized HB 3846 at the public 
hearing, once the proposal goes to the House floor, most - if not all - the 
criticism is expected to come from Democrats, particularly from death penalty 
opponents.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, Texas has 
carried out more than 1/3 of all state-ordered executions in the United States.

Smithee said he is ready for such criticism.

"On balance, we are faced with a very difficult situation here in Texas," he 
said in an interview. "If we are going to have capital punishment, as I told 
the committee, we've got a problem that we need to resolve.

"If this isn't the way to resolve it, I am open to any changes but we 
definitely need to get the problem resolved," Smithee said.

"The attorney general and TDCJ are looking for clarity," he added. "All they 
are trying to do is carry out the policy that the Legislature has directed them 
to do, and that is to use capital punishment as an enforcement tool for certain 
very limited crimes.

"They are feeling frustrated that they are being prevented from carrying out 
the task that the Legislature has given them."

If the bill passes with at least a 2/3 vote in each chamber, it would become 
law immediately. Otherwise, it would become effective on Sept. 1.

(source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

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

Death Watch: Killer or Fall Guy?----Was Daniel Nagle murdered by a man acting 
alone, or was it part of a larger conspiracy?



On the afternoon of Dec. 17, 1999, in Beeville, Texas, correctional officer and 
local AFSCME union president Daniel Nagle was found stabbed to death inside his 
office. No witnesses immediately came forward.

Part of the reason for that was staffing at Beeville's McConnell Unit had grown 
so thin that guards often worked alone. In fact, according to a 2013 report in 
The New York Times, the situation at McConnell had grown so dire by late 1999 
that, just 2 weeks before his murder, Nagle was in Austin at a rally urging the 
Legislature to do something. "Someone will have to be killed," he said, "before 
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice does anything about the shortage of 
staff in Texas prisons."

Not only did no officer witness the murder, but none of the surveillance 
cameras stationed around the complex pointed toward Nagle's office. A handful 
of McConnell inmates - who would later step forward - proved the murder's only 
onlookers.

Found at the scene of the killing was a homemade knife fashioned out of a metal 
rod. It was free of fingerprints. Investigators also found a torn disciplinary 
report that had been delivered to Robert Pruett, a 20-year-old inmate serving 
99 years for acting as an accomplice to a murder his father committed when he 
was just 16. Pruett had been disciplined by Nagle that week for taking a 
sandwich into the complex's recreation area. But no fingerprints were found on 
the report, and a palm print found on the document belonged to a 3rd party. 
Though inmate witnesses testified to seeing a violent skirmish in Nagle's 
office, the only blood samples taken from the scene belonged to the deceased.

Officers who questioned Pruett after the murder noticed that he had a cut on 
his thumb, which Pruett said he got while weight lifting. Blood found on his 
clothing came from that injury. He told authorities that on the day of the 
murder, he returned to his cell after cutting his thumb, then went to the 
prison's gym, where he washed whatever blood remained off his hand. He said it 
was at the gym that he first heard of Nagle's murder.

Nagle's death was not the end of problems at McConnell. The entire unit was put 
on lockdown, but three days later, at roughly 3:45am, an inmate jimmied the 
lock on his door and broke out of his cell. He attacked a guard with a six-inch 
shank, then forced him into the unit's control center, where another guard was 
stabbed in the forearm. The inmate then unlocked the unit's doors. Eighty 
inmates broke out and destroyed the complex. It took more than 100 guards to 
retake the cellblock. They battled prisoners for over 2 hours before regaining 
control. TDCJ spokesman Glen Castlebury told the Houston Chronicle: "We would 
see no relationship between the 2 incidents."

Others were not so certain, and believed that Nagle's murder and the riot were 
part of a larger conspiracy by a prison gang in league with corrupt corrections 
officers. As the Texas Observer reported in a March 2000 story, "About a month 
before his death, Nagle's name was reportedly discovered on a 'kite,' a 
clandestine note from one inmate to another. The warden reportedly warned Nagle 
that the note was a hit list, and that one or another prison gang wanted the 
officer dead." News just weeks after the murder that 3 Beeville prison guards 
had pleaded guilty to laundering money on behalf of McConnell inmates only made 
observers of Pruett's case more skeptical about the official version of events.

However, the disciplinary report, Pruett's injury, and the inmate witnesses' 
testimony were enough for a grand jury to indict Pruett for Nagle's murder, 
even though the prosecution could produce no physical evidence tying him to the 
crime. All evidence of Pruett's involvement was gleaned from five inmate 
witnesses, some of whom admitted to being granted credit toward early parole in 
exchange for their full testimony. Some said they saw Pruett kill Nagle 
themselves, others claimed that Pruett admitted his guilt to them.

Pruett was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death in 2003. None 
of his appeals have resulted in his conviction or sentence being overturned, 
although in 2013, just 12 days before his scheduled execution, prosecutors 
agreed to a 60-day reprieve to allow touch DNA testing (a science not available 
during Pruett's trial) on the disciplinary report. Ultimately, the tests 
succeeded only in delaying Pruett's execution, not stopping it: The trial court 
held that it was "not reasonably probable that [Pruett] would have been 
acquitted had the new results been available at trial." He received a new 
execution date: April 28, 2015.

Pruett hasn't had much luck organizing his final appeals. His chief counsel, 
well-respected Houston death penalty attorney David Dow, is currently facing a 
yearlong suspension after filing documents late in the case of Miguel Paredes 
(see "Death Watch: San Antonio Gun Brother," Oct. 24, 2014), and appeals filed 
this month with the state and 5th Circuit have been unsuccessful. Pruett was in 
line to be the 8th Texan executed in 2015; however, Richard Vasquez received a 
stay of execution on April 20 in order to give the Court of Criminal Appeals 
more time to decide whether to grant his habeas petition (see "Death Watch: 
Deficient Counsel, but Not Prejudicial," April 17). Should Pruett be executed 
on the 28th, he'll be the seventh Texan executed in 2015, and the 525th since 
the state's reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976.

Pruett has remained upbeat in the face of execution, writing in late January 
that "there's lots of reason to remain hopeful and optimistic" on a website he 
updates monthly. That same website details that he helped start a game called 
"Death Row Idol," a singing and talent competition designed much like American 
Idol, only with death row inmates. "We all casted our votes to see who'd be 
voted off of the gurney," he wrote. "We laughed and cried together, sharing 
intimate memories, regrets, hopes and dreams. I grew to love those guys like 
brothers."

Recently, Pruett has started a relationship with a British woman named Kate 
Hughes, with whom he has corresponded regularly since March 2014. Hughes firmly 
believes in his innocence, and considers him a "really positive person" who's 
"quite happy in himself." She's taken to Photoshopping Pruett into photos of 
various locations around the world - the Vatican, Sydney Opera House, her 
hometown of Liverpool - plus 1 print that finds Pruett hanging out with 
Radiohead. "We talked about the places he would like to visit and I just wanted 
to take him out of his reality," she wrote. "He knows where he is and he knows 
what's happening in his life, so I wanted to take him away from that."

(source: Austin Chronicle)

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

Continuance granted for James Calvert defense; jury selection begins Thursday



A continuance was granted in the capital murder trial of James Calvert during a 
pretrial hearing Wednesday afternoon.

The latest hearing got underway with Calvert addressing the Smith County 
District Attorney's Office's decision to pursue the death penalty. Calvert 
argued against the possibility by citing a list of chemicals used in the 
execution process by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; none of which 
are currently used. The state uses pentobarbital, which was not included in the 
list.

Calvert later argued the use of the drug, saying injection chemicals affect 
people differently, saying "death is not a light switch."

"Lethal injection is a good idea, if you want to kill somebody," Calvert 
chuckled in court Wednesday.

Calvert complained Smith County Judge Jack Skeen, Jr. was "short-circuiting" 
him.

"You don't sit in here and dictate the proceedings," said Skeen.

Calvert has a history of disruptions and arguing during court proceedings. He 
was held in contempt Tuesday, which threatened his ability to represent himself 
during his capital murder trial.

Calvert is accused of killing his ex-wife and kidnapping their son in October 
of 2012. Smith County DA Matt Bingham has said they intend to seek the death 
penalty in the case. Calvert is pleading not guilty by reason of insanity.

Bingham offered Calvert a continuance to seek a mental health evaluation for 
his insanity motion, which was filed months ago, but never received expert 
testimony for his case. Calvert agreed to the terms.

Despite the agreement, jury selection is still scheduled to begin Thursday. 
Opening statements have been rescheduled to begin August 25.

(source: KTRE news)








PENNSYLVANIA:

FBI: We Gave Flawed Testimony in 6 Pennsylvania Death Row Cases----Part of an 
ongoing review of the agency's use of "microscopic hair comparison analysis" 
which has affected 90 % of trials examined, including at least 29 total in the 
state.



FBI analysts gave testimony that contained serious scientific errors in 
hundreds of trials over the course of 2 decades, including 29 in Pennsylvania, 
the Justice Department announced Monday.

The FBI and Justice Department, alongside the Innocence Project and the 
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, have been conducting a review 
of cases where "microscopic hair comparison analysis" - a process in which 
analysts examined hair found at crime scenes to try and match its color and 
patterning to a suspect - was used as evidence. Prior to 2000 - at which point 
DNA testing of hair became routine - the FBI relied heavily on this kind of 
analysis. Nowadays, the National Academy of Sciences considers microscopic hair 
comparison analysis "highly unreliable." So far, the review has looked at 268 
trials, and found that 257 of them - over 90 % - contained incorrect testimony.

29 of those trials took place in Pennsylvania. The groups conducting the review 
are currently not releasing the names of the defendants in those trials, saying 
that defendants and lawyers should be able to make their own decision about 
going public. The Innocence Project confirmed, however, that a large portion of 
the defendants were on trial for sexual assault or murder.

6 of the trials in Pennsylvania sent people to death row. (Other reports had 
that number as 5, and the Pennsylvania total at 28, but Paul Cates at the 
Innocence Project confirms that an additional death penalty case was discovered 
subsequently.) As of now, all of those defendants are still alive, according to 
the Innocence Project. But it's a sure thing that death penalty opponents will 
point to Monday's announcement as further damaging the case for the death 
penalty and justifying Governor Tom Wolf's moratorium.

"What is shocking about this is that there was a systemic use of unreliable 
testimony used to implicate defendants," said Robert Dunham, executive director 
of the nonpartisan Death Penalty Information Center. "It is part of an emerging 
pattern that shows that there is an enormous amount of inaccurate testimony in 
our courtrooms."

The FBI review is ongoing, and the agency plans to examine thousands more cases 
in the coming months. That might just be the tip of the iceberg, however.

The FBI says that it helped train police departments all over the country, 
including Pennsylvania, in microscopic hair comparison analysis. It's hard to 
know how many prosecutions used that analysis as evidence, but with several 
hundred of investigators using this technique over more than 20 years, it's 
certainly a lot, according to Dunham, and there's no guarantee every single 
error will be uncovered. "Even if we find out about some of these cases, we're 
going to find out too late for some people," he said.

(source: phillymag.com)








DELAWARE:

Interfaith group calls for Delaware death penalty repeal----Delaware's top 
clergymen came together to call on lawmakers to repeal the state's death 
penalty.



Delaware's top clergymen came together Wednesday in Dover to call on lawmakers 
to repeal the state's death penalty, calling the punishment unjust and 
ineffective.

"It has often been felt that the death penalty brings justice, we often quote 
the Bible, 'An eye for an eye," said the Rev. John Deckenback, of the 
Conference Minister for the United Church of Christ Central Atlantic. "Those 
type of responses tend to alleviate our emotional need for revenge, but we 
would question whether they bring about true justice."

Deckenback, Bishop W. Francis Malooly, from the Diocese of Wilmington; Bishop 
Wayne Wright, from the Episcopal Church of Delaware; and Rabbi Yair Robinson 
spoke during a press conference Wednesday afternoon supporting the push to 
repeal Delaware's death penalty.

Backers of the repeal effort have increased their presence in Legislative Hall 
as the controversial measure heads to the House Judiciary Committee. The 
hearing on Senate Bill 40 has yet to officially be scheduled, but House prime 
sponsor Rep. Sean Lynn, D-Dover, said he was told it would be during the 2nd 
week of May.

"We are hearing that the people in our pews believe that this is the right time 
for the death penalty to end here in Delaware," Wright said.

Earlier this week, a poll commissioned by the Delaware Center of Justice found 
that 63 % of Delawareans support the death penalty. In a follow-up question, 64 
% said life with or without parole was a better option than death for those 
convicted of murder. About 1/2 the 573 people polled said they supported the 
measure to repeal the death penalty.

"There is no justice in the death penalty," Robinson said. "There is no peace 
in the death penalty and the time to repeal this form of punishment is now."

The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Karen Peterson, D-Stanton, includes an 
exemption for the 15 inmates currently sitting on Delaware's death row, who 
would still face execution by lethal injection. The Senate passed the 
legislation 11-9 earlier this month.

Gov. Jack Markell has yet to weigh in. A spokeswoman for Markell has said that 
the governor is following the debate, but would not take a position. The clergy 
said they are planning to try and meet with Markell Wednesday afternoon.

Police groups strongly oppose repeal and are expected to step up opposition in 
the House, where they have an ally in powerful Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, D- 
Rehoboth, a retired state trooper.

Delaware is one of 32 states that employs capital punishment. The last inmate 
put to death was Shannon Johnson, 28, in April 2012 by lethal injection.

Advocates for the death penalty have long argued that it is a fair penalty for 
the most heinous of prisoners and deters crime, but opponents say execution 
violates human rights, is expensive, encourages a cycle of violence and is used 
disproportionately against minorities and the poor.

(source: delawareonline.com)



FLORIDA:

FBI errors could impact Jacksonville man facing death penalty



A Jacksonville man gets the death penalty for the brutal rape and murder of a 
woman in her Mandarin home - but news that the FBI admits to flawed hair 
analysis in hundreds of cases nationwide change that.

This week, the Justice Department and FBI pledged a full review of FBI 
laboratory protocols and procedures. An investigation found flawed hair 
analysis testimony in hundreds of criminal cases, with hundreds more still 
under review.

WOKV confirmed with the State Attorney's Office that one local case, that of 
Gerald Murray, could be affected.

Murray is currently on death row for the 1990 rape, burglary, and murder of 
59-year-old Alice Vest. According to the conviction, Vest was strangled with a 
cord or belt, stabbed at least 2 dozen times, and beaten with a metal bar, 
candlestick holder, and broken bottle. Murray and another man, Steve Taylor, 
were accused of the crime. Pubic hair on the scene was found to have the same 
"microscopic characteristics" as Murray, according to the case layout by the 
Florida Supreme Court. He was also linked to jewelry stolen from the victim's 
home.

Murray allegedly confessed his involvement to a man he escaped prison with, 
saying he broke in to the house after Taylor convinced him to, had the victim 
perform oral sex on him, and then went to find items in the home to steal. He 
claimed he came back and found Vest had been stabbed, but wasn't dead, so 
together the men strangled her to death.

This death sentence is actually the result of the fourth trial Murray has faced 
on these charges. The Florida Supreme Court timeline of the case shows that in 
1994 Murray was first convicted and sentenced to death, but that was ultimately 
reversed because of "erroneous qualification of an expert witness who testified 
as to DNA evidence and the improper admission of DNA evidence at trial." 
Murray's 1998 trial ended with a hung jury. He was again tried in 1999, 
convicted, and sentenced to death. Again, however, the Florida Supreme Court 
reversed the conviction because of the improper admission of DNA evidence.

The ruling dealing with the 1999 conviction shows specific concerns about the 
handling of the hair evidence in the case.

Murray's 4th trial was in 2003, and he was again convicted of first-degree 
murder, burglary with assault, and sexual battery.

The conviction was again appealed by Murray's defense, but the Florida Supreme 
Court upheld his conviction and sentence. The ruling we've obtained shows hair 
evidence was again an issue raised on appeal, but the Court believed the 
prosecution presented new evidence in the 4th trial which cleared up prior 
issues that warranted overturning the conviction.

The State Attorney's Office tells WOKV they were notified about the potentially 
flawed FBI hair analysis in this case in 2013. At that time, there was already 
a hearing set for a motion by the defendant for post-conviction relief. This 
potential analysis issue was added on to that pending hearing, which is 
scheduled for November.

(source: WOKV news)

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

Serial killer's appeal of death sentence slogs on



After a Leon County jury recommended serial killer Gary Michael Hilton be 
sentenced to death for the brutal 2007 murder of Crawfordville nurse Cheryl 
Dunlap, her cousin begged the presiding judge to see the jurors' will carried 
out.

"What will it take to stop this monster?" Gloria Tucker implored Leon Circuit 
Judge James Hankinson at Hilton's April 2011 sentencing hearing. "There is no 
question he should pay with his own life."

4 years later, as Hilton's appeal of his sentence grinds on, Tucker has changed 
her mind.

"I think the death penalty should be abolished," she said this week, in advance 
of Hilton's latest judicial pirouette in Leon Circuit Court Thursday. "If a 
person gets life in prison, you never have to attend another hearing. I've been 
to 6 hearings. It's excruciating for the victim's family. It's just too much."

So far, Hilton's efforts to see his Florida conviction and death sentence 
overturned have been rejected once by the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. 
Supreme Court. Now, he is into his 2nd-round of seeking post-conviction relief. 
More rounds could follow for the now 68-year-old living on Florida's death row.

"Even families that are pro-death penalty, once they get into the process, many 
of them have to change their minds," said Tucker, who wrote a book about her 
experience as a family member in the courtroom. "It's just too much emotional 
trauma to deal with."

Dunlap's murder came in the middle of a months'-long 3-state killing spree by 
Hilton.

It began in October 2007 with the kidnapping and killing of Bob and Irene 
Bryant, an elderly couple hiking in North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest. 
Then came Dunlap, 46, who was missing for 2 weeks before her body was found 
Dec. 15, 2007, in the Apalachicola National Forest in southern Leon County. In 
early January 2008, Hilton captured, killed and dismembered 24-year-old hiker 
Meredith Emerson on Blood Mountain, Georgia. He was arrested soon after at an 
Atlanta-area convenience store as he tried to rid his van of blood-soaked 
camping gear.

Hilton confessed to killing Emerson in exchange for a life-sentence in Georgia 
and was extradited to Florida to face trial in the Dunlap case. He later 
pleaded guilty to killing the Bryants and the federal government meted out 
another life-prison.

At Thursday's hearing, known as a Huff hearing, Hilton's attorney Robert A. 
Morris will argue an evidentiary hearing should be held in September to present 
evidence that his public defenders ineffectively represented him and his death 
sentence should be set aside and a new sentencing trial be held.

Morris contends Hilton's court-appointed trial attorneys were overworked, had 
no strategy, failed to present key information to the jury and did not inform 
him of his right to enter a guilty plea, which would have spared jurors from 
hearing of his acts during both the guilt and sentencing phase.

Hilton kidnapped Dunlap at Leon Sinks Geological Area, kept her alive for days, 
then killed her, cut off her head and hands and burned them in his camp fire. 
Testimony in the 3-week trial was graphic and gut-wrenching. The jury 
unanimously recommended the death sentence.

"(Hilton) was always of the belief that he had no choice but to proceed to 
trial and was not advised of the options and alternatives," Hilton's relief 
motion said. "(His) understanding was that he must plod along forward to trial 
with no option but to fight against the crushing weight of evidence against 
him."

State prosecutors argue even if the alleged errors were made - which they 
contend were not in this case - the outcome would have been the same because of 
the heinous nature of the crime.

"The bottom line is that Hilton committed the brutal kidnapping, murder and 
dismemberment of Cheryl Dunlap," the response from Office of the Attorney 
General said. "The fact is that the aggravating circumstances proved in this 
case were completely overwhelming."

Hankinson is again overseeing the proceedings and will decide if a hearing is 
needed. No matter the outcome, additional appeals are expected. The process 
could take a decade more - or longer - and again wind through the Florida and 
U.S. Supreme Courts as well as federal district court and federal appeals 
courts.

"It's been going on and on and on and it still has a long way to go," Tucker 
said. "It's a total waste of emotions and time. They bend over backwards to 
protect his rights, but who protected Sherry???s rights?"

(source: Tallahassee Democrat)








ALABAMA:

Mother's request to U.S. Supreme Court denied



The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition to review the death penalty sentence 
of a Franklin County woman accused of starting a fire that killed her 
6-year-old son in 2008, authorities said.

Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing said he received information 
Wednesday that U.S. Supreme Court justices denied the request from attorneys 
representing Christie Michelle Scott.

According to reports, Bryan Stevenson, executive director of the Equal Justice 
Initiative in Montgomery, filed a petition on Scott's behalf asking the U.S. 
Supreme Court to convert the death penalty sentence to life without the 
possibility of parole.

Scott, 36, of Russellville, was convicted of capital murder in July 2009.

On Aug. 5, Scott became the 1st woman in Franklin County to be sentenced to 
death. Franklin County Circuit Judge Terry Dempsey overrode the jury's 
recommendation that she be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility 
of parole.

Scott was found guilty of starting the Aug. 16, 2008, fire at her family???s 
home on Signore Drive in Russellville.

A message left for a comment from Stevenson at the Equal Justice Initiative was 
not returned Wednesday.

Rushing said the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was based on the fact that 
Dempsey gave Scott the death penalty after the jury recommended life without 
parole.

"The petition contended that the judicial override (by Dempsey) was in 
violation of the U.S. Constitution and that it should be reviewed by the U.S. 
Supreme Court," Rushing said. "The justices refused to review the case."

Rushing said this was just "another step" in Scott's efforts to appeal the 
jury's conviction and the judge's sentence.

"So far, she has been unsuccessful on every level," Rushing said.

He said the Alabama Criminal Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court ruling 
and conviction. In September 2014, the Alabama Supreme Court affirmed the 
decision, and "now the U.S. Supreme Court has denied this request," he said.

Scott's trial lasted four-weeks, the longest criminal case tried in Franklin 
County. She testified she had no idea how the fire might have started in the 
bedroom where her son was sleeping.

During the trial, Scott said she tried to get her son out of the house, but 
couldn't because of heat, smoke and fire. She and her younger son escaped by 
jumping from a window. Her husband was out of town when the fire occurred.

During the trial, prosecutors contended Scott started the fire to collect on a 
$100,000 life insurance policy.

"We're pleased with the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to even consider the 
issues because the death penalty was the appropriate sentence in this case, 
based on the crime committed," Rushing said.

Scott is being held on death row at Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in 
Wetumpka.

(source: Times Daily)








MISSISSIPPI:

Charges effectively dropped against Manning for '93 double homicide



Prosecutors will not move forward with a new murder trial against Willie Jerome 
Manning, who previously stood accused of killing 2 women 22 years ago, court 
documents show.

An order effectively dropping the charges was filed Monday in Oktibbeha County 
Circuit Court after the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned Manning's 1996 
conviction and sentencing in February.

Justices ordered a new trial after determining the state violated Manning's 
due-process rights "by failing to provide favorable, material evidence."

Emmoline Jimmerson and her daughter, Alberta Jordan, were found dead at their 
Brookville Gardens apartment in 1993. Police theorized they were killed during 
a robbery.

A jury convicted Manning of the murders 3 years later, but the state's main 
witness who testified during the trial, Kevin Lucious, later recanted his 
statements in a sworn affidavits, the order states.

Since the material witness changed his story, "the state is unable to meet the 
burden of its proof," the order states.

"It's not a matter of if (Manning) did it or didn't do it, it's a matter of how 
we can't go forward," said district attorney Forrest Allgood. "He was 
functionally the way we proved our case. There was corroborating evidence, but 
there were no other witnesses that heard Manning admit (the crime) or go into 
the apartment."

Lucious previously told then-Sheriff Dolph Bryan and then-Starkville Police 
Department Capt. David Lindley that Manning admitted he killed the 2 victims 
and provided specific details of the incident.

An affidavit recanting the claims states Lucious testified "only because he was 
afraid of being charged with the 2 murders," that the information he provided 
was prepared by law enforcement and that Manning never said "he would not have 
killed the old ladies if he had known the (sic) didn't have money," Monday's 
order states.

Lucious also withdrew testimony saying he saw Manning enter the victims' 
apartment near the time of the murders.

Manning, 46, remains behind bars at the Mississippi State Penitentiary after he 
was convicted of 2 capital murder charges stemming from the 1992 deaths of 
Mississippi State University students Jon Steckler and Tiffany Miller.

Manning was scheduled for lethal injection 2 years ago, but the Supreme Court 
issued a stay before the procedure was executed.

Lucious is serving 2 life sentences without parole in Missouri.

A secretary for attorney Mark Williamson, who is listed as Manning's 
representative on Monday's order, said counsel would offer no comment.

(source: The Dispatch)