[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., OKLA., NEB., COLO., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Aug. 8



PENNSYLVANIA:

Blystone attorneys seek to reargue courtroom closing in death penalty 
resentencing


Attorneys for a Fayette County man whose mother wants the courtroom closed when 
she testifies at his resentencing in a death-penalty homicide have filed an 
application seeking to reargue their case for courtroom closure.

Scott Wayne Blystone, 59, was convicted in 1984 of 1st-degree homicide and 
sentenced to death. He shot hitchhiker Dalton Charles Smithburger Jr. 6 times 
in the back of the head on Sept. 9, 1983, and left his body along a road, 
according to trial testimony.

Blystone presented no witnesses or defense during the penalty phase of his 
trial, telling a judge that "he didn't want anybody else brought into it."

2 federal appeals courts later found Blystone had ineffective counsel during 
the penalty phase of his trial and ordered a resentencing hearing.

The resentencing has been delayed while Blystone's attorneys attempt to secure 
a closed courtroom during the testimony of his mother, Norma Blystone. She 
wants to testify her son was abused as a child, but she doesn't want her 
husband or anyone outside the courtroom to hear the details, according to court 
documents.

The state Supreme Court in July quashed Blystone's appeal of a lower court's 
denial of his request for the closed courtroom. It said it lacked jurisdiction.

This week, Blystone's attorneys filed an application for reargument of the 
appeal with the state Supreme Court, potentially delaying the resentencing as 
the court considers the application.

(source: triblive.com)






OKLAHOMA:

Death Row inmate counting down to 'unjust' execution by watching Last Of The 
Summer Wine


A convicted killer whiles away the days to his execution by watching Last of 
The Summer Wine.

Richard Glossip has maintained his innocence every day of the 17 years he has 
spent on Oklahoma's death row and his plight has become a celebrated cause 
among anti-death penalty campaigners.

But as he fights to save his life, it is classic British TV sitcoms that are 
keeping up his spirits.

"I love British comedy," he said.

"I watch Last of the Summer wine twice a day, 5 days a week.

"A lot of people here don't get its dry humour."

But there is little funny about being trapped in the tragicomedy of America's 
justice system.

Glossip wakes each day knowing that at precisely 6pm in little more than a 
month he will die for a murder he did not carry out - while the actual killer 
has been spared.

Almost unbelievably, the only evidence against him is the word of the murderer.

His one remaining hope is to appeal to Governor Mary Fallin, a staunch 
supporter of capital punishment - to grant a 60-day stay of execution that will 
allow his legal team to push for a new hearing.

Glossip's plight has captured the hearts and minds of Americans and thousands 
round the world.

They have been joined by heavyweights including Hollywood star Susan Sarandon 
and Sister Helen Prejean, who she played in Dead Man Walking to win her Oscar.

Of 3,002 men and women on death row, 4% are estimated to be innocent.

Glossip, 52, speaks movingly about his plight and how he hopes justice will 
prevail: "I'm not frightened of dying," he says.

"God knows it comes to us all.

"But if I do die, I hope it is not in vain.

"If my execution ensured no other innocent man was sent to the death chamber 
then I will willingly - and am prepared to - die for that cause.

"I'm trying to get people to understand, to get people to speak out, it is time 
to stop killing innocent people in this country."

Glossip, scheduled to die on September 16, was convicted after the confessed 
murderer of his boss, motel owner Barry Van Treese, said he was involved.

Though he did not kill Van Treese - a fact never disputed - he got the death 
penalty.

In the US, co-conspirators in any crime which leads to a murder is also guilty 
of homicide.

Justin Sneed, the motel handyman murderer, claimed it was Glossip's idea.

For his testimony, the sole evidence against Glossip, Sneed got a deal of life 
without parole.

The case against Glossip is riddled with holes and an illogical motive.

Footage showed officers appearing to encourage Sneed to implicate Glossip. And 
the investigation into the crime was very inadequate and incredibly brief.

Several suspects, all known to the police, with violent pasts, were at or 
around the motel at the time of the murder yet none were questioned.

Glossip's 2 trials, in 1998 and 2004, were seriously under-funded.

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals threw out the 1st verdict due to ineffective 
counsel. During his retrial, the Oklahoma Public Defender's Office failed to 
present key evidence on his behalf.

Sarandon, 68, called the trials "ridiculous" pointing to the lack of evidence.

She said: "A snitch who killed the person puts him there, then the snitch has 
life and this guy is being put to death.

"He is clearly innocent. When a mistake is made in a judicial system, people do 
not want to admit mistakes."

An unlikely supporter is O'Ryan Justine Sneed - the killer's grown daughter.

In a letter to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, she wrote she "strongly 
believes" Glossip is innocent.

She said: "For a couple of years, my father has been talking to me about 
recanting his testimony."

Her letter reached the board too late for his attorneys to submit it. To date, 
Sneed himself has not come forward. According to O'Ryan, the murderer fears it 
could mean the end of his plea deal.

"I don't hate Justin for what he did," Glossip said, showing incredible 
resolve. "I'm just bitterly disappointed why he would use me like he did."

To save his life, Glossip's legal team tried to argue the death sentence was 
unconstitutional due to use of the drug Midazolam, which has led to botched 
executions.

1 inmate was writhing in pain for more than an hour. But the Supreme Court 
backs use of the drug.

Glossip could have in fact avoided death after the retrial judge said he could 
admit the crime and get life.

He refused: "I told her, I can't stand here and tell you I did it when I 
didn't, to save my life."

But Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt was unmoved and said in a statement: 
"The attorney general's office will continue its work to ensure the sentence 
handed down can be carried out."

Glossip now spends his days hoping his pleas will be heard and the authorities 
will be forced to act.

In the meantime he watches shows he adores, such as One Foot in the Grave 
starring Richard Wilson as grumpy OAP Victor Meldrew.

Of his love of Last of the Summer Wine, with stars including Kathy Staff as 
Nora Batty and Bill Owen as Compo, he says: "It's about these old buddies who 
love the simple things like climbing a hill and lying in the grass.

"You realise you don't need all those luxuries, all you need is a simple life 
and a simple life will always be the best.

"Just because you face being executed, it doesn't mean that you can't laugh."

(source: mirror.co.uk)

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

Oklahoma Governor Says She Can't Stop Execution


Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin does not have the power to commute the death sentence 
of Richard Glossip, her office said in response to criticism by activist 
actress Susan Sarandon.

Glossip is scheduled to die on Sept. 16 for hiring a man to murder his 
employer, Bary Allan Van Treese, in 1997. Glossip has always maintained his 
innocence.

Sarandon, who has campaigned against the death penalty for years, called Fallin 
a "horrible person" for refusing to intervene.

"Richard's case is so typical. Bad representation, 2 trials that were 
ridiculous, no physical evidence," Sarandon told the British news group Sky 
News on Thursday.

"He's put there by a snitch who actually did kill the person, and then the 
snitch has life and this guy is being put to death on the 16th. Once a mistake 
has been made within a judicial system, people just do not want to admit that 
mistake has been made and it becomes impossible to readdress them. And the only 
thing now that is going to give him a chance to survive is public opinion - is 
public embarrassment." Sarandon urged people to write Fallin to stop the 
execution.

She called the Glossip case "a perfect example of what's wrong with the death 
penalty, and so of course I'm hoping that some kind of exposure will give him 
the opportunity to maybe get his sentence at least commuted, because he's 
clearly innocent, and on top of that the guy who actually killed the person is 
in a minimum security prison for the rest of his life."

Sarandon has visited Glossip on death row and will serve as his spiritual 
adviser in the hours before he dies by lethal injection.

Fallin's spokesman Alex Weintz responded to Saradon and several media inquiries 
on Twitter, saying Fallin does not have the ability to grant Glossip clemency.

"The limit of her legal ability to intervene is to grant a 60 day stay," Weintz 
tweeted Thursday. "The gov[ernor] can only grant clemency [to] inmates who have 
been recommended clemency by the Pardon and Parole Board. Glossip's request was 
unanimously denied ... To say Glossip has had his day in court is an 
understatement. He has been pursuing the same arguments publicly and in court 
for 20 years. He was convicted of murder in court twice and sentenced to death 
twice by 2 juries (24 total jurors unanimous in their verdict)."

Even if Fallin could grant clemency, doing so would "unilaterally overturn" the 
judgments of jurors and several courts, including the 10th Circuit and U.S. 
Supreme Court, Weintz said.

"Glossip's execution is going forward because he is (a) guilty and (b) has 
exhausted his legal options," he said. "Final thought: there are multiple 
victims here, none of them Glossip. A man beaten to death, wife without a 
husband, 5 kids with no dad."

Sarandon won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1995 for her portrayal of 
anti-death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean in "Dead Man Walking." Prejean 
also has called for Glossip's exoneration.

Glossip and 3 other death row inmates sued Oklahoma last year, claiming its use 
of midazolam - the 1st drug in a new 3-drug replacement protocol - fails to 
render a person insensate to pain, in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

States have been forced to seek replacement execution drugs from compounding 
pharmacies after anti-death penalty opponents persuaded large drug 
manufacturers to stop making lethal injection drugs. Oklahoma's previous 
protocol required pentobarbital to knock the inmate unconscious, vecuronium to 
stop breathing and potassium chloride to stop the heart.

Glossip's lawsuit was filed after the botched execution of murderer Clayton 
Lockett, 38, in April 2014. He was declared unconscious after being injected 
with midazolam, but breathed heavily, writhed, clenched his teeth and strained 
to lift his head off a pillow 3 minutes later. Blinds separating a viewing 
gallery and the death chamber were lowered and Oklahoma Department of 
Corrections Director Robert Patton ordered the execution stopped. It took 
Lockett 43 minutes to die of a heart attack.

In a 5-4 ruling on June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the new execution 
protocol. Oklahoma quickly rescheduled four executions. The Supreme Court said 
the inmates failed "to identify a known and available alternative method of 
execution that entails a lesser risk of pain."

(source: Courthouse News)






NEBRASKA:

Gov. Pete Ricketts confident executions will happen for men on death row


If Nebraska succeeds in importing the $54,400 in lethal injection drugs it 
ordered from India, Gov. Pete Ricketts said Thursday he's confident he won't 
need to seek a refund.

During an interview Thursday on "The Bottom Line," The World-Herald's Internet 
radio broadcast, the governor was asked what happens to the state funds if the 
death penalty repeal ultimately remains in effect. Death penalty supporters are 
collecting signatures in an effort to let voters decide the fate of capital 
punishment in 2016.

"Would we then be able to sell it back to the people who sold it to us?" host 
Mike'l Severe asked. "Would we get our money back?"

The governor, a major contributor to the petition drive, said the state will 
need the drugs for the 10 men on death row, regardless of the drive's outcome.

"The Legislature actually doesn't have the authority to go back and change 
sentences that have already occurred," he said. "We're still working under the 
premise that we're going to continue to carry out the sentences for the inmates 
we have."

State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, the chief sponsor of the law, has said that 
while the Legislature cannot change the death sentences of those already on 
death row, the repeal removed the statutory means for conducting an execution. 
That, he has said, leaves the death row inmates with a sentence that can't be 
carried out.

The state has not yet imported the drugs it bought in May from a broker in 
India. An official with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said 1 of the 
2 drugs Nebraska purchased can't legally be imported.

Ricketts said Thursday that state officials remain in discussions with the Drug 
Enforcement Administration to get the drugs shipped. He offered no timeline, 
however, on when the drugs could arrive.

A DEA official has said the agency is working in tandem with the FDA on the 
issue, suggesting Nebraska would not be able to use one federal agency to go 
around another.

(source: omaha.com)






COLORADO:

Aurora movie theater gunman sentenced to life in prison without parole for 
killing 12 people during shooting spree


More than 3 years after a gunman walked through a movie theater in Aurora, 
Colo., firing round after round into a packed crowd, a jury said Friday he 
should be spared a death sentence and instead spend the rest of his life in 
prison.

The same jurors who last month found James Holmes guilty on each of the 165 
counts he faced for carrying out one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. 
history wound up spending little time deliberating on his penalty.

A death sentence could only be issued if every juror agreed, and all it takes 
is 1 vote for life in prison for that to become the sentence. After a lengthy, 
emotional trial, the jury said they could not reach a unanimous sentence on the 
counts facing Holmes, and as a result Holmes will be sent to prison without 
possibility of parole.

The jurors had previously turned down opportunities to sentence Holmes to life 
in prison, indicating twice during the final weeks of the trial that they 
thought a death sentence should remain on the table.

1 by 1, District Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. read off the murder charges facing 
Holmes, who stood a few feet away with his hands in his pockets as the verdict 
was read. And 1 by 1, he read from the verdict forms saying that since jurors 
had not all agreed on a sentence, they knew Holmes would be imprisoned for the 
rest of his life.

[After emotional trial, jury convicts James Holmes of murder for Aurora movie 
theater shooting]

Attorneys for Holmes had not denied that he was the man who killed 12 people 
and wounded another 70 during a screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" 3 years 
ago. Instead, they argued for a life sentence because they said he had suffered 
a psychotic break.

"James Holmes committed this crime because he was psychotic and delusional," 
Tamara Brady, one of Holmes's attorneys, said during the penalty phase's 
closing arguments. She added: "The deaths of all of those people cannot be 
answered by another death. Please, no more death."

George Brauchler, district attorney for Arapahoe County, called death "the only 
appropriate sentence in this case" during the final phase of the trial.

"You can bring justice to this act and to him," Brauchler said during his final 
arguments in the case, pointing at Holmes. "And for James Egan Holmes, justice 
is death."

After announcing that Holmes would not be sentenced to death, Samour thanked 
the jurors for their service and sacrifice during the trial.

Holmes had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, an argument the jurors 
rejected. His attorneys had said in a court filing 2 years ago that he was the 
gunman, writing that Holmes "was in the throes of a psychotic episode when he 
committed the acts that resulted in the tragic loss of life and injuries 
sustained by moviegoers on July 20, 2012."

Moviegoers had packed into a theater in Aurora, a suburb of Denver, for a 
midnight screening of a new Batman movie when a lone gunman caused the bloody 
carnage. Witnesses said Holmes calmly and silently strode through the theater, 
firing at adults and children alike.

His trial was pushed back multiple times by delays, including arguments over 
evaluations of Holmes's sanity. Jury selection finally began in January, with 
opening statements following in April, allowing the trial to stretch over much 
of the year.

Relatives of those injured and slain marked the 3rd anniversary of the shooting 
during the final weeks of the trial. 3 days later, a gunman in Lafayette, La., 
opened fire inside a theater there, killing 2 other people and injuring 9 
others.

During the penalty phase, jurors weighing Holmes's fate heard emotional 
testimonies from people who were injured or lost loved ones in the shooting. 
Ashley Moser, whose 6-year-old daughter, Veronica Moser-Sullivan, was killed in 
the attack, spoke Wednesday about her life since that night.

"I don't know who I am anymore, because I was a mom when I was 18 and that's 
all I knew how to be," said Moser, who was paralyzed from the waist down during 
the shooting and suffered a miscarriage. Her voice breaking, she continued, 
"And now I'm not a mom."

Relatives of Holmes who had pleaded for a life sentence also spoke during the 
trial about what he was like in the years before the shooting. Holmes's father, 
Robert, said he still loved him because because "he's my son." The older Holmes 
added: "He was always a really excellent kid."

Holmes had faced 165 total charges in this case, nearly all of them for murder 
or attempted murder. He was also charged with one count of possessing an 
explosive device. Holmes was found guilty on every single charge.

Jurors had debated whether to make Holmes the 4th person on Colorado's death 
row. Death row inmates spent 23 hours a day alone in solitary cells at the 
state's Sterling Correctional Facility, about 125 miles northeast of Denver; 
when their execution date nears, inmates are moved to a different penitentiary 
before the lethal injection.

But death sentences are rare in Colorado. Between 1973 and 2013, the state 
sentenced 22 people to death, according to the Justice Department. More people 
were sentenced to death in 30 other states and by the federal government over 
the same period.

Colorado is also among the least active death-penalty states in the country. 
Since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, only 1 inmate has 
been executed there.

A life sentence averts a lengthy process of appeals and a long delay before a 
possible execution. Death row inmates nationwide have spent an average of 14 
years under their sentences, and the Colorado Department of Corrections notes 
that due to appeals, inmates will spend at least a decade on death row.

People in Colorado had said by a nearly 2-to-1 margin that they wanted Holmes 
to receive a death penalty rather than life in prison, according to a 
Quinnipiac University Poll released last month. While 63 % of voters supported 
a death sentence, 32 % favored imprisonment.

Holmes's parents had pleaded for their son's life before the trial began, 
writing that they know people view their son as a monster.

"We do not know how many victims of the theater shooting would like to see our 
son killed," Robert and Arlene Holmes wrote in a letter published by the Denver 
Post. They also wrote: "He is not a monster. He is a human being gripped by a 
severe mental illness."

They had asked for their son to spend the rest of his life imprisoned rather 
than be sentenced to die.

Holmes still has to be formally sentenced, which Samour scheduled to occur 
later this month.

(source: Mark Berman; Washington Post)

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

Cinema Killer James Holmes Spared Death Penalty ---- Jurors fail to reach a 
unanimous verdict on the death penalty, meaning James Holmes will spend life in 
prison without parole.


Colorado cinema gunman James Holmes will spend life in prison without the 
possibility of parole after the jury rejected the death penalty for his 2012 
shooting rampage.

Jurors in the closely watched trial reached a sentencing verdict on Friday 
after less than 1 full day of deliberation.

Holmes, 27, was convicted last month on 165 counts including the 1st-degree 
murder of 12 people killed in the 20 July 2012 shooting massacre. 70 people 
were also wounded.

Jurors paved the way for a possible death sentence earlier in the week when 
they decided that aggravating factors in the case counted for more than 
mitigating ones such as mental illness.

However, for each of the counts read out by Judge Carlos Samour Jr, the jury of 
nine women and three men said: "We do not have a unanimous final sentencing 
verdict on this count and understand the court will impose a sentence of life 
imprisonment without the possibility of parole."

Holmes had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

After deliberating briefly on Thursday, the jury on Friday requested to review 
a video of the body-strewn Aurora theatre recorded after the attack.

Within 6 1/2 hours, the panel had returned its verdict.

Judge Carlos Samour Jr retook the bench at 5pm local time (12am UK time) and 
read out the verdict in court.

He also thanked the jury for their service during the 3-month trial. They are 
now free to talk about the case, but he stressed that they are under no 
obligation to do so.

During the trial's sentencing phase, the defence argued that executing Holmes 
in light of his mental illness would be wrong.

2 defence-hired psychiatrists testified that the former neuroscience student 
was suffering from schizophrenia and could not distinguish right from wrong.

Defence lawyer Tamara Brady asked jurors on Thursday whether they were prepared 
to sign the death warrant of a mentally ill person, adding it was a decision 
they would live with for the rest of their lives.

Prosecutors countered with testimony from 2 court-appointed doctors who said 
that although Holmes suffered from mental illness, he knew what he was doing 
when he opened fire inside the crowded cinema during a screening of the Batman 
film The Dark Knight Rises.

In his closing arguments, District Attorney George Brauchler said death was the 
only appropriate sentence for the "horror and evil" Holmes wrought.

Colorado has executed just 1 inmate in nearly 50 years.

A recent Denver Post poll showed 70% of Colorado residents surveyed favoured 
execution in Holmes' case.

However, victims' families had said they were conflicted over whether Holmes 
should be put to death.

Lonnie Phillips, whose 24-year-old daughter was killed in the attack, had 
concerns that there would be decades of appeals in the event of a death 
sentence.

Marcus Weaver, a Christian initially opposed to capital punishment, changed his 
mind after hearing the testimony of fellow moviegoers. He also described seeing 
no remorse in Holmes' eyes as he took the stand.

(source: Sky News)

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

Juror Says Holdout Would Not Budge on James Holmes Death Penalty


The jury deciding whether Aurora movie theater shooter James Holmes should be 
sentenced to death ended deliberations Friday after it became apparent 1 juror 
would not budge from her opposition to a death sentence, a juror told 
reporters.

Because the jury could not reach a unanimous decision, Holmes will be sentenced 
to life in prison without the possibility of parole for opening fire during a 
screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" on July 20, 2012, killing 12 people and 
wounding 70 others.

"We ended our deliberations when one absolutely would not move," the juror, who 
only identified herself as "juror 17," told reporters after the verdict Friday. 
2 other jurors were "on the fence" about the death penalty, she said.

The jury rejected arguments from Holmes' defense attorneys that he was legally 
insane when he carried out the attack and found him guilty of 24 counts of 
murder - 2 for each person he killed. Holmes' lawyers then argued it would be 
inhumane to execute a man who suffered from mental illness.

Juror 17 said the issue of mental illness appeared to be the reason the juror 
refused to vote to sentence Holmes to death. "There was no other concern," she 
said.

District Attorney George Brauchler said Friday that he was disappointed when 
the verdicts were read. He apologized to the families of the victims, but 
several relatives said at a news conference that he did all he could to secure 
a death sentence, and they appreciated his efforts.

"I still think death is justice for what that guy did, but the system said 
otherwise," Brauchler said. "I honor that, and I'll respect that outcome."

Juror 17 said the jury tried to reach a unanimous decision. The jury had less 
instructions than in previous decisions, leaving the issue more up to jurors' 
personal values and morals, she said. Earlier Friday, another juror asked to 
see video of the crime scene, which Juror 17 believes may have been an attempt 
to sway the juror opposed to a death sentence.

Juror 17 said some of the images shown during the months long trial will be 
hard to forget. The trial lasted 65 days and involved more than 300 witnesses 
and thousands of pieces of evidence. "It was very emotionally difficult," she 
said.

"I feel that we really truly did our best to come to a proper verdict," she 
said. Formal sentencing is set to begin on Aug. 24, and is expected to last 3 
days.

(source: NBC news)

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

Prosecutors, victims disappointed Colorado theater shooter didn't receive death 
penalty


A Colorado jury on Friday sentenced 27-year-old James Holmes to life in prison 
without the possibility of parole for killing 12 people and injuring 70 others 
in a suburban Denver movie theater in 2012.

How some victims' relatives and public officials reacted:

"While I am disappointed with the outcome, I am not disappointed with the 
system and I am not disappointed with the process."

Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler, who led the prosecution of 
gunman James Holmes

"We have to abide by it, and we have to accept it. We just have to deal with it 
and accept it. He's living. He's breathing and our loved ones are gone. The 
gaping void we have for our granddaughter has been replaced with a new abscess 
of him living."

Robert Sullivan, grandfather of 6-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan, the 
youngest victim of the attack

"The thought that this monster gets to have visitation from his parents and 
gets to receive mail and pictures from his very strange girlfriends is very 
hard to accept, but this is what it is."

Sandy Phillips, whose 24-year-old daughter Jessica Ghawi was killed in the 
attack

"We had him for 18 wonderful years. The only thing that I'm sorry about is that 
I don't have him for another 18. But we don't. We'll survive. He's no longer 
with us, in our midst, but he is here. But he is the one thing that really kept 
this family together. He's still keeping us together."

Bill Hoover, grandfather of A.J. Boik, 18, who was killed in the attack

"Now that we don't have the death penalty, we don't have to go through all the 
appeals. ... We want him to go into oblivion. We want him to never be seen or 
heard from again."

Lonnie Phillips, whose 24-year-old stepdaughter Jessica Ghawi was killed in the 
attack

"I can tell you he has nothing to apologize for. ... He has nothing to 
apologize for what happened in the courtroom or the decision he made. ... He 
showed tremendous moral courage. Tremendous moral courage for doing what he 
thought was right. - Prosecutor Rich Orman on District Attorney George 
Brauchler's handling of the case

"Our thoughts remain with the victims and families who have suffered 
unspeakable tragedy. No verdict can bring back what they have lost but we hope 
they begin to find peace and healing in the coming weeks."

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper

"On behalf of the citizens of Colorado, I would like to thank District Attorney 
George Brauchler and his team for their commitment to justice. As this matter 
continues through the judicial system, my office stands ready to assist. This 
evening, I am thinking about the victims of this awful tragedy and praying for 
their peace."

Colorado Attorney General Cynthia H. Coffman

"Although the (Colorado Criminal Defense Bar) is pleased that the jury rejected 
the death penalty, we are extremely disheartened by the wastefulness of the 
trial, which could have been avoided 2 years ago when a plea was offered that 
would have produced the exact same result. The huge amount of money, work 
hours, and pain wasted by this trial is incalculable."

Christopher Decker, President of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar

"I'm not going to second guess the jury's verdict because this is the way our 
system works, but I continue to believe that the death penalty should be 
retained in Colorado as an option for circumstances and crimes that call for 
the ultimate punishment. Just because this jury, in this case, didn't believe 
it was appropriate, doesn't mean future juries should be denied that option."

Colorado Senate President Bill Cadman

"The jury recognized that executing someone with severe mental illness is 
morally and legally indefensible. It is fortunate that Colorado will not be in 
the terrible position of having to do so. Furthermore, this verdict means the 
victims and their family members will be spared from years of appeals and from 
having to relive the details of that night over and over."

Denise Maes, policy director of the ACLU of Colorado

(source: Associated Press)






USA:

Justices Speak out About Death Penalty, but Executions Go On


Wherever their summer travels have taken them, Supreme Court justices probably 
will weigh in over the next few days on Texas' plans to execute 2 death row 
inmates in the week ahead.

If past practice is any guide, the court is much more likely to allow the 
lethal-injection executions to proceed than to halt them.

Opponents of the death penalty took heart when Justices Stephen Breyer and Ruth 
Bader Ginsburg made the case against capital punishment in late June as 
arbitrary, prone to mistakes and time-consuming. Even if death penalty 
opponents eventually succeed, the timeline for abolition probably will be 
measured in years, not months.

That's because Breyer, joined by Ginsburg, was writing in dissent in a case 
involving death row inmates in Oklahoma, and 5 sitting justices, a majority of 
the court, believe "it is settled that capital punishment is constitutional," 
as Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his opinion for the court in that same case.

Texas has scheduled back-to-back executions Wednesday and Thursday for Daniel 
Lee Lopez and Tracy Lane Beatty.

Lopez was convicted of running over a Texas police officer with his car during 
a high-speed chase. Lopez' lawyer already has asked the court to stop the 
execution.

Beatty strangled his 62-year-old mother, then stole her car and drained her 
bank accounts. He has an appeal pending in lower courts and could also end up 
at the Supreme Court.

The justices rarely issue last-minute reprieves to death-row inmates. Even 
after Breyer's opinion calling for a re-examination of capital punishment by 
the Supreme Court, no justice publicly backed a Missouri inmate's plea to halt 
his execution to allow the court to take up the constitutionality of the death 
penalty.

Similarly, the 3 Oklahoma inmates who lost their high court case now face 
execution in September and October and want the justices to reconsider the 
decision from June in light of Breyer's dissent. The court almost never does 
that.

The heightened attention on the death penalty comes amid declining use of 
capital punishment in the United States, and a sharp drop in the number of 
death penalty prosecutions.

The 18 executions that have taken place so far this year have been carried out 
in just 5 states - Texas, Missouri, Georgia, Florida and Oklahoma. 9 of those 
were in Texas. 12 states with the death penalty have not had an execution in 
more than 5 years. That list includes California and Pennsylvania, which 
between them have more than 900 death row inmates.

The relatively small number of states that actively seek to carry out death 
sentences underscores what Ginsburg characterized in late July as "the luck of 
the draw."

"If you happen to commit a crime in one county in Louisiana, the chances you 
will get the death penalty are very high. On the other hand, if you commit the 
same deed in Minnesota, the chances are almost nil," she said at a Duke 
University law school event in Washington.

Texas is far and away the leader in carrying out executions, but it too has 
seen a drop in the number of new inmates on its death row. No new death 
sentences have been imposed in Texas this year, said Robert Dunham, executive 
director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

Geographic disparity was among several defects Breyer and Ginsburg identified 
in June. Another is the length of time many inmates spend living under a 
sentence of death, which Breyer had previously suggested also might be a 
violation of the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. 6 of the 
18 men who have been executed in 2015 spent at least 20 years on death row, 
including 1 who served 31 years before his execution.

Yet for all the systemic problems opponents of capital punishment can cite, 
they also have to reckon with what death penalty opponent Michael Meltsner 
called the "world of brutality and the awful capacity of people to commit 
violent crimes." One example: The Justice Department, which has otherwise 
advocated for criminal justice reforms during the Obama administration, won a 
death sentence in the case of convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar 
Tsarnaev.

"When awful things happen, people don't think about the costs and benefits. 
They react to circumstances. There is an ambivalence that has tracked the death 
penalty debate for many years," said Meltsner, a Northeastern University law 
professor and experienced civil rights lawyer.

Among the questions surrounding the possibility that the Supreme Court would 
take up the constitutionality of the death penalty is the makeup of the court 
itself.

With 4 justices in their late 70s or early 80s, the next president might have 
the chance to fill several vacancies and could change the court's direction.

"Obviously, the composition of the court matters greatly and the biggest 
unknown variable about the life of the American death penalty is the 
presidential election of 2016. My expected time frame for constitutional 
abolition varies greatly based on the result," said Jordan Steiker, a 
University of Texas law professor.

It took Breyer and Ginsburg more than 20 years on the Supreme Court to voice 
their doubt about capital punishment. Justices Harry Blackmun and John Paul 
Stevens likewise spoke out at the very end of their time on the court.

Steiker said he thinks Breyer's dissent will serve as a road map for death 
penalty lawyers and future justices who may not feel constrained to wait before 
grappling with executions.

"It was invigorating to those who'd like to see constitutional abolition," he 
said. "The arguments not new, but they had not been marshaled as effectively by 
a justice until this opinion."

(source: Associated Press)