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

[Rick Halperin]

Aug. 24



MASSACHUSEtTS:

Sacco-Vanzetti execution anniversary remembered in Springfield----Mass.' last 
execution was in 1947


It's been 88 years since 2 Italian immigrants were executed by the Commonwealth 
of Massachusetts.

Many people believe that Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were wrongly 
executed based on flimsy evidence and their political beliefs.

To commemorate the date and to build opposition to the death penalty ever being 
conducted in the state, the Massachusetts Citizens Against the Death Penalty 
group held a memorial service Sunday at the Sinai Temple in Springfield.

John Tomson of Springfield told 22News, "The evidence is very strong that they 
didn't get a fair trial. We think it goes further than that, and shows that 
they were actually innocent, but there's no question that they didn't get a 
fair trial."

The last time somebody was put to death in Massachusetts was back in 1947. The 
death penalty was eventually abolished in the state in 1984.

(source: WWLP news)






OKLAHOMA----impending execution

Death row prisoner's race against time to find woman who says her dad framed 
him ---- O'Ryan Sneed has vanished after writing a letter claiming her father 
lied to police when he said Richard Glossip hired him to carry out the murder


Investigators working to free a man set to be executed in 22 days have launched 
a desperate hunt for the daughter of the real killer who says he is innocent.

Richard Glossip, 52, was convicted in 1998 of murdering the owner of the motel 
where he worked as a handyman.

Justin Sneed, 37, claimed Glossip had hired him to carry out the murder. For 
his testimony he received a plea deal of life without parole.

But in a shocking twist, Sneed's daughter, O'Ryan Justine Sneed, 21, wrote to 
the clemency board in Oklahoma pleading for Glossip's life.

She wrote: "1 innocent life has already been taken by my father's actions. A 
2nd one doesn't deserve to be taken as well."

She said her father had lied about the killing of Barry Van Treese, to escape 
the death penalty and "stay in my life".

She added: "He was backed into a corner, facing being charged with the death 
penalty. But he was offered a plea agreement, of life without parole, to 
testify against Mr Glossip.

"I feel he is holding important facts about Mr Glossip's case in fear of losing 
his own deal.

"I am sure that Mr Glossip did not do what my father originally said, that he 
did not hire my father to kill Mr Van Treese, and he doesn't deserve to die 
over my father's actions."

Investigators are now desperately trying to trace O'Ryan, who went to ground 
when her family ordered her not to speak out any further.

Her letter was not heard by the clemency board after arriving too late and 
Glossip is now due to die by lethal injection on September 16.

Thousands have signed a petition at richardeglossip.com to stop the execution, 
in a campaign supported by actress Susan Sarandon, 68.

Glossip was convicted purely on Sneed's claim that he offered him 6,460 pounds 
for the killing.

O'Ryan's evidence could pave the way for a Supreme Court appeal.

Glossip's niece Billie Joe Boyiddle said: "O'Ryan's testimony is new evidence 
that could see Richard free at last."

The case against the death row inmate is riddled with holes and an illogical 
motive, say campaigners.

And interview footage shows officers appearing to encourage Sneed to implicate 
Glossip while there was not a shred of physical evidence against him.

The only chance of an appeal now lies with the Supreme Court if any new 
evidence was to be presented.

On average, a death row inmate has been found to be innocent and exonerated 
every 3 months in the United States since 1973.

4 % of current condemned prisoners are estimated to be innocent.

(source: The Mirror)






NEBRASKA:

Problems with death penalty


Recent news stories tell us that the execution drugs our state has purchased 
from some questionable source in India have still not arrived in Nebraska 
("ACLU asks for investigation in death penalty drug purchase," August 20). It 
seems to me that the handwriting is on the wall. Few states in the U.S. use the 
death penalty, fewer executions take place each year and we hear more 
frequently about errors in the system.

Supreme Court Justice Breyer recently questioned the entire enterprise. It has 
become not just a cruel punishment, but a very unusual, infrequently used one. 
One of our state legislators, who voted for repeal, said that if all Nebraskans 
had seen the wealth of information with which the legislature was provided, 
Nebraskans would have no problem supporting repeal.

Please, decline to sign this petition. The entire effort is a waste of our 
money being thrown at a broken system.

Joan Didion, Lincoln

(source: Letter to the Editor, Journal Star)






COLORADO:

At least 100 people may speak at James Holmes' sentencing


At least 100 victims and witnesses of James Holmes' deadly attack on a Colorado 
movie theater are expected to testify about the crime's profound and continuing 
impact on their lives during a formal sentencing hearing starting today.

The 3-day hearing gives survivors a chance to share their harrowing stories 
with the judge, but it won't change Holmes' sentence. Jurors already determined 
that Holmes will spend the rest of his life in prison without parole for the 
July 20, 2012, attack that killed 12 people and injured 70 others.

Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. will formally sentence Holmes to life on 24 counts 
of 1st-degree murder - 2 for each of those killed. This week's testimony will 
help him determine Holmes' sentences on 141 other counts that include attempted 
murder and an explosives charge. Samour has not set a limit on the number of 
people who can take the stand.

Many victims testified during Holmes' 4-month trial about the terror and 
carnage he inflicted on more than 400 people who filled the seats at a sold-out 
midnight movie premiere of "The Dark Knight Rises" in suburban Aurora. Holmes, 
a former graduate student in neuroscience, slipped into the darkened theater, 
threw gas canisters into the crowd and opened fire with a shotgun, assault 
rifle and semi-automatic pistol.

Now, victims will be able to talk about the enduring harm he caused. They won't 
be able to address Holmes directly but rather the judge.

Holmes will also have an opportunity to speak, though he declined to do so 
during his trial.

State corrections officials will determine where Holmes will be incarcerated 
after an evaluation that includes his mental health. That could last up to 60 
days, Department of Corrections spokeswoman Adrienne Jacobson said.

Colorado prisons have an extensive mental health care system, and Holmes, who 
has been diagnosed with varying forms of schizophrenia, could wind up in the 
department's mental hospital, the 250-bed San Carlos Correctional Facility in 
Pueblo.

The department has four levels of security for inmates, and those serving a 
life sentence, like Holmes, are usually classified at the highest or 
second-highest security level, Jacobson said. She said she couldn't speculate 
on what kind of prison routine Holmes or any inmate would have.

Holmes' attorneys blamed the massacre on his schizophrenia and psychotic 
delusions, and experts testified that it wouldn't have happened if he were not 
seriously mentally ill.

Jurors quickly rejected his insanity defense, convicting him on July 16 of 165 
felony counts. But they could not unanimously agree on the death penalty for 
Holmes.

After the trial, prosecutors said Holmes' fate ultimately came down to a single 
juror, who said she could not morally impose a death sentence after hearing 
testimony about Holmes' mental illness. The Aug. 7 verdict shocked many in the 
courtroom and the community, who assumed Holmes would pay with his life for one 
of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.

(source: Associated Press)

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

James Holmes prosecutor talks about holdout juror and the future of the death 
penalty


Arapahoe County Dist. Atty. George H. Brauchler spent the last three months in 
the courthouse's Division 201, trying to persuade a jury that Aurora, Colo., 
theater gunman James E. Holmes should be put to death. After hearing from more 
than 300 witnesses and seeing nearly 3,000 pieces of evidence, 1 juror voted 
against execution, and Holmes' life was spared. Formal sentencing is scheduled 
to begin Monday in Centennial, Colo. As many as 200 victims will read 
statements.

What was your reaction to the verdict?

I was surprised, no doubt about it. But as obviously as I thought it was a case 
that cried out for the death penalty, I never went into it cocky, that it was a 
foregone conclusion. The fact that we came so close made it more disappointing. 
When the judge says it's a profoundly reasoned moral judgment and says it 10 
times, you always know that any death penalty case could come out this way.

Have you spoken with the jurors?

They said they were shocked and surprised that this juror held the view she 
held and took the position she took.

As much as I disagree that life is justice for this guy, I am a defender for 
this system. I think it should be incredibly difficult for the government to 
take the life of a citizen. I am going to believe that she did exactly what the 
judge instructed her to do and voted as a matter of conscience. I have no 
information to tell me otherwise.

Juror 17 is the only one who has spoken publicly. She said there were 1 holdout 
and 2 wobblers. Is her analysis correct?

Wobbler is even too strong of a term. They had gone around the room at some 
point and said, "OK, how strong are you on your position?" They had gotten 10 
[on a scale of 1 to 10 to gauge how strong the positions were] from everybody 
and 8 on these 2.

So what happened with the holdout, and when did she break the news to the jury?

This juror said, "I'm a 10, but I'm a 10 for life." It was an hour to an hour 
and a half before the judge got the completed verdict forms. They really felt 
comfortable with the idea that they were going to get death until this person 
revealed her position.

Do you know what affected her most?

Mental health of course was an issue in the case. The juror who was a holdout, 
there was no indication to us that this juror even engaged in lengthy 
description of, "This is how I felt." The deduction is that it had to be mental 
health.

You said that at some point the jurors voted among themselves about whether 
they could sentence Holmes to death if mental health was not an issue. Is that 
correct?

I can't tell you if it was a formal vote or if this was a discussion topic. It 
was something like, "If mental health were not an issue, would you all vote for 
death," words to that effect. Everyone said yes.

Gov. John Hickenlooper has said he would not allow someone to be executed while 
he is in office. Governors in Washington, Oregon and Pennsylvania have taken 
similar actions. Did that affect the jury?

We're talking about 1 juror. Without talking to that one juror, it is 
impossible to know. Some of the victims who were onboard with the death penalty 
said that it had impacted them. They said, "I was willing to sign up my family 
for a death penalty trial, but now, if some governor 20 years from now can pull 
the rug out from under a jury and sentence, I would rather have closure right 
now." It was painful.

Many have said that, if Holmes does not get the death penalty after killing 12 
and wounding 70, then the death penalty is dead in Colorado. Do you agree?

No. It was 1 juror. If it came back 12 for life, I would have said, "Good 
grief." If this juror also came back with death, no one would have said: "This 
is dispositive. The death penalty is here to stay, and mental health is never 
going to be an issue." To suggest that because that juror had reservations for 
whatever personal reasons, I don't think you can draw any policy implications 
from that.

This year alone, the death penalty has been thrown out in Connecticut and 
Nebraska. Defendants in high-profile death penalty cases in Washington state 
this summer got life in prison without parole. Do you see a change in the air?

I think there's always been that group that feels like we should find a way to 
minimize the consequences for the most terrible crimes. Maybe it picked up 
traction because of the Nebraska Legislature. But people here do not want to 
create a ceiling of maximum possible punishment for people who commit the worst 
of the worst crimes.

So you think the death penalty will stay on the books in Colorado?

In one way or another, I do.

Dexter Lewis was just convicted of murder in Denver for killing 5 people during 
a robbery, and the jury is in the sentencing phase considering execution. The 
judge in that case warned jurors that the 2 cases are not alike. Do you think 
the Holmes verdict will impact the Lewis case?

I hope it doesn't. I want the jurors to follow the instructions they were 
given. 1 holdout juror should not affect them. Each of these cases must be 
thought about individually. They are both evil acts.

Holmes was convicted of murdering 12 people and wounding 70. But I have heard 
you say that there are 1,200 victims in the case. How do you figure?

The way victims are defined under our laws extends beyond the people injured. 
It goes to immediate family members. With just the 12 deceased, we were dealing 
with a group of more than 100. Everyone in Theater 9 or 8 could have been a 
victim under an attempted murder statute. We didn't charge that way because of 
logistical reasons. It doesn't deny that those people are victims.

(source: Los Angeles Times)