[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----DEL., ALA., LA., IND., KY., NEB., CAL., ORE., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 4


DELAWARE:

Plea hearing set for ex-soldier charged in 2011 killing


A Delaware judge has scheduled a plea hearing for a former soldier accused of 
kidnapping, raping and killing a woman while he was on leave.

Dwight L. Smith Jr., 28, was scheduled to enter a guilty plea at a hearing 
Friday in Wilmington.

Smith is charged with killing Marsha Lee of Wilmington while he was on leave 
from Fort Drum, New York, in December 2011.

Lee, 65, was abducted while walking her dog. Police said at the time that Smith 
had targeted Lee at random after deciding he wanted to kill somebody. He 
allegedly hit Lee with his sport utility vehicle, threw her inside, then raped 
her and beat her to death.

According to prosecutors, Smith said in the confession that led to his arrest 
that the attack was unplanned and random. Prosecutors have said they would seek 
the death penalty.

After Lee's death, Smith wrote to his father of concerns about his mental 
health and suggested that he became "addicted to killing" while in Iraq and 
Afghanistan.

Smith's attorneys have said he has serious mental health issues.

A prosecutor declined to comment Thursday on the plea hearing.

Smith's public defender did not immediately respond to an email seeking 
comment.

In the letter to his father, Smith complained that his mental health was 
deteriorating and that solitary confinement after his arrest was "starting to 
play tricks with my mind."

"I just don't want to be locked up without getting some type of help," he 
wrote.

In the letter, Smith also wrote of killing a lot of men and children, some 
after they begged for mercy.

"I think I got addicted to killing people.... It got normal for me to be that 
way. I never wanted to be this way. I just took my job way to (sic) serious. I 
took things to the extreme. Anyone can tell you that I changed. It is like 
being a completely different person."

(source: Associated Press)






ALABAMA:

Towles re-convicted of capital murder of Geontae Glass----2009 conviction in 
case thrown out by Alabama Supreme Court


A Gadsden man has been convicted of capital murder for a 2nd time in the death 
of a 5-year-old boy.

Kevin Andre Towles was convicted of murdering Geontae Glass in 2006. He was 
found guilty of beating Glass to death before he and Glass' mother tried to 
cover up the crime with a fake kidnapping claim.

Prosecutors said that Towles murdered the boy before Shalinda Glass told police 
someone stole her car with the child asleep inside.

Deontae Glass' body was later found in the trunk of the car on Towles' 
property.

Towles was convicted in Glass' murder and sentenced to death in 2009, but an 
appeals court cited improper testimony when it later overturned the verdict.

Shalinda Glass pleaded guilty to her role in her son's death and is serving a 
life sentence.

The jury announced Towles most recent conviction in the case Thursday morning, 
after deliberating for about 2 hours.

Because Towles was convicted of capital murder, the case shifted into the 
sentencing phase Thursday afternoon.

Prosecutors argued that Glass' murder was heinous and cruel and that Towles 
deserved the death penalty.

Glass' grandmother and sister took the stand for the prosecution.

"How much compassion did the defendant have when the decision was made to take 
my grandson's life? It is the request of the family that the maximum punishment 
be imposed," said Glass' grandmother, Linda Starr.

Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin told the jury it was the worst capital 
murder case he had seen.

"It was very heinous. The use of the 2-by-4. The visible wounds. It was just a 
terribly slow death. Of all the capital cases, this is the worst," he said.

Defense attorneys said the every human being has redeemable qualities and that 
Towles was redeemable.

Towles' mother begged the jury to spare his 1st-born son's life.

"He is my baby. I will always love him and I beg you to spare his life. He has 
a big heart," she said.

(soruce: WTVM news)






LOUISIANA:

Attorneys seek to suppress statements man accused of killing baby made to 
Lafayette detectives while in 'altered state'


Attorneys for a man charged with the 2014 murder of a baby are asking a judge 
to suppress statements Bryant Rogers made to Lafayette Parish sheriff's 
detectives after 11-month-old Carson Dupuis' death.

Rogers, 27, was in what "appeared to be an altered state" when he was 
interrogated by detectives in the hours after Carson was pronounced dead on 
April 4, 2014, wrote his attorney, David Rubin.

Rogers' mental state during the interrogation and the fact that he continuously 
tried to sleep during questioning, bolsters the argument that Rogers' 
statements should not be allowed as evidence at his trial, Rubin argued.

Rogers had told a detective during his interviews that Carson fell out of a 
vehicle and hit his head and that he grabbed the child by his neck, according 
to court papers filed Nov. 12.

Rubin and Thomas Alonzo, another attorney defending Rogers, sought rulings from 
Judge Patrick Michot at a hearing in 15th District Court on Thursday. The judge 
was to rule on suppressing the statements and other requests made by Rogers' 
defense team. The hearing, however, was delayed until January.

In July 2014, a grand jury indicted Rogers on 1 count of 1st-degree murder, a 
charge that carries a possible death sentence if convicted. However, prosecutor 
Michelle Billeaud filed a notice that the 15th District Attorney's Office would 
not seek the death penalty.

The grand jury in July 2014 also charged Carson's mother - 26-year-old Karin 
Dupuis, who is Rogers' former girlfriend - with 1 count of criminal negligence.

In court papers, Rubin wrote that Rogers was subjected to a multihour interview 
with detectives while "Mr. Rogers appeared to be in an altered state." Rogers 
also sought sleep throughout his time with police, including on the morning of 
April 4. That morning, deputies and ambulance medics found Carson "cold to the 
touch and (showing) no signs of life" in the Carencro camper where Dupuis and 
Carson lived with Rogers.

Even in that environment, Rogers was trying to find a place to sleep. "At some 
point, Mr. Rogers was observed attempting to sleep underneath a canopy on the 
camper," Rubin wrote.

Rogers also "repeatedly tried to sleep in the (Sheriff's Office) interrogation 
room," Rubin wrote. "Throughout the interrogation, when deputies were out of 
the room, he moaned and screamed. On multiple occasions during the 
interrogation, Mr. Rogers appeared not to understand the detectives' 
questions."

Dupuis, who told detectives that Rogers had baby-sat Carson the day before he 
died, is expected to testify against Rogers at a trial in 2016. Rogers' 
attorneys are asking Michot to order the District Attorney's Office to reveal 
any offers of reduced prison time for Dupuis in exchange for her testimony.

If convicted of the charge of second-degree cruelty to juveniles, Dupuis faces 
up to 40 years in prison at hard labor.

"Mr. Rogers is not only entitled to the disclosure of any specific offers made 
to Ms. Dupuis in connection with her potential testimony, but is also entitled 
to disclosure regarding the nature of any discussions between (prosecutors) and 
Ms. Dupuis' counsel regarding that potential testimony," according to court 
papers.

(source: The Advocate)

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

DA office working to return former death row inmate to Angola----The Terrebonne 
District Attorney's Office is requesting that a former death row inmate be 
returned to the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola following his recent 
transfers to 2 other state prisons.


Chad Louviere, 43, was convicted of killing a young mother while holding his 
estranged wife and four other women hostage in a 1996 bank standoff in Houma. 
The state Department of Public Safety and Corrections transferred Louviere to 
Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel from the David Wade Correctional 
Center in Homer in north Louisiana.

Elayn Hunt is the 2nd largest prison in the state after Angola.

"It was our understanding and the victims' understanding that he would be at 
Angola," Assistant District Attorney Ellen Doskey said, adding the state didn't 
notify the District Attorney's Office of the transfer. "We are working our due 
diligence to get him transferred back to Angola."

There is no legal requirement to inform local agencies and other concerned 
parties of inmate transfers, said Pam Laborde, communications director for the 
state Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

State penitentiary officials have indicated space issues as the primary reason 
for moving Louviere out of Angola.

Louviere is serving 2 consecutive life sentences in prison after pleading 
guilty earlier this year. The plea spared him the death penalty but ended his 
appeals. He was sentenced to death in 2000 for murdering 27-year-old Pam 
Duplantis, raping 2 other women bank employees and kidnapping multiple people 
during a hostage standoff in the former Argent Bank at Grand Caillou and Moffet 
roads in Houma on Oct. 17, 1996.

Louviere has stayed in what officials refer to a "closed-cell restriction" unit 
in each of the three prisons that have housed him, Doskey said. He is required 
to remain for 23 hours inside of his cell, gets 2 to 3 hours outside in a 
fenced yard each week and is allowed four personal visits each year.

Such cells are reserved for high-security or high-risk inmates who may be 
unable to survive in the general prison population due to the severity of their 
crimes or their status as an inmate, officials say. The closed-cell restriction 
unit at Angola has about 100 cells.

These units are "designed to protect inmates as well as correctional officers," 
according to a 2013 news release from state Attorney General Buddy Caldwell.

Inmates can communicate with other inmates and prison staff, watch TVs through 
their cell doors, listen to the radio, use reading and writing materials, and 
shop at the prison store, among other activities. They have limited use of a 
phone and email and receive visits from religious, medical and psychological 
professionals, Caldwell noted.

"Contrary to numerous reports, this is not solitary confinement," he said in 
the release.

In a 2007 federal civil suit, Angola closed-cell restriction inmates Albert 
Woodfox, Herman Wallace and Robert King claimed they were "almost totally 
deprive[d] . . . of human contact, mental stimulus, physical activity, personal 
property and human dignity" after spending almost 4 decades in the unit.

The 3 were accused of killing a prison guard in 1972, but their convictions 
have since been overturned. Wallace and King have been released from Angola, 
but Woodfox remains in closed-cell restriction after a federal appeals court 
recently ruled he can be tried a 3rd time.

(source: houmatoday.com)






INDIANA:

Man charged in IMPD officer's death returns to court


The man accused of killing an Indianapolis police officer is due in court 
Friday morning.

A pre-trial conference for Major Davis, Jr. is set for 9 a.m. He's accused of 
shooting IMPD Officer Perry Renn to death on July 5, 2014. Davis was also shot 
and critically wounded by Officer Renn, but survived.

Davis faces the death penalty if convicted.

"It is clear that there are those in our city who believe that our police 
officers are fair game," Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said last year. 
"Make no mistake, we will prosecute you to the maximum extent possible under 
the law."

Curry said there were 2 aggravating circumstances that support a death penalty 
case: that Davis killed Renn while Renn was on duty as a police officer, and 
that the murder was motivated by an act Renn performed while acting in the 
course of his duty as an officer.

(source: WISH news)






KENTUCKY:

Grand jury to hear case against man charged in deaths of 4


A Calloway County grand jury will hear the case against a man charged in the 
deaths of four relatives whose bodies were found after a house fire in Murray.

The Paducah Sun reports (http://bit.ly/1Qh2O6f ) 21-year-old Pascasio Y. 
Pacheco Arellano of Mayfield is charged with 4 counts of murder and 1 count 
each of 1st-degree burglary, 1st-degree arson and tampering with physical 
evidence.

Commonwealth Attorney Mark Blankenship says prosecutors will most likely seek 
the death penalty.

Police say Arellano's uncle, 29-year-old Bulmaro Arellano, was found dead 
inside the home that burned Nov. 17. Bulmaro Arellano was found with his wife, 
24-year-old Marisol Hernandez, and their 5-year-old and 1-year-old children.

Preliminary autopsy results indicate Hernandez and Arellano died from gunshot 
wounds. It's believed the children died of smoke inhalation.

It's unclear whether the suspect has an attorney.

(source: Associated Press)

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

The death penalty in Kentucky


Crimes that may involve the death penalty everyday in Kentucky, so for many 
there's a lot of questions, like what exactly makes a case eligible.

"The one most commonly probably seen by prosecutors and the court system, is a 
murder that occurs during a robbery, burglary, a rape, a sodomy."

Timothy Madden charged in the killing of Gabbi Doolin, is eligible for the 
death penalty due to those aggravating factors, but it's a long process before 
any decision like that will be made.

Judge Steve Wilson in Warren County has worked cases involving the death 
penalty before and says those cases usually take much more time.

"When you're trying to take a person's life, you want to make sure every safe 
guard is protected," said Wilson.

In Kentucky since the death penalty was reestablished in 1976, only three 
people have actually been put to death. The last case in 2008. Currently there 
are 33 people on death row, and that's where they may stay for a long time.

"It's a very very tough thing to accomplish. Not just getting the death 
penalty, but in our state especially, carrying it out, has almost been 
impossible."

Wilson says the issue is a larger one nationally about the cocktail used in the 
execution chair. But life in prison as a death row inmate, is different than 
someone serving a lesser sentence.

"If you're on death row, you're in a cell. I can't remember what it is. 10x8 or 
10x6. One hour a day you get out to go in the yard or go in the gym, whatever. 
You're segregated from the rest of the community."

Only 2 people currently on death row committed crimes in south central 
Kentucky. Robert Woodall in Muhlenberg County and William Harry Meece in Adair 
County. That has the potential to change if the state decides to seek the death 
penalty in a number of cases in south central Kentucky currently in court, a 
decision with a lot of factors.

"The prosecutor has to decide what's in the best interest in the community as a 
whole, but at the same time the request of that family always weighed a great 
deal on my decision making on that," added Wilson.

If a defendant facing the death penalty has a state appointed attorney, the 
state has to provide someone with death penalty experience. However, if the 
person hires a private attorney, no death penalty experience is required.

(source: WBKO news)



NEBRASKA:

Ernie Chambers asks Nebraska Supreme Court to sanction attorney general over 
lethal injection drugs


Sen. Ernie Chambers wants the Nebraska Supreme Court to sanction the attorney 
general over the state's efforts to import a disputed lethal injection drug. 
The state's most outspoken death penalty opponent filed a formal grievance 
Thursday against Attorney General Doug Peterson with the Counsel for Discipline 
of the Nebraska Supreme Court.

The 17-page complaint contends that Peterson has guided state Corrections 
officials to press ahead with obtaining foreign-made sodium thiopental, an 
anesthetic that is prohibited for importation by the U.S. Food and Drug 
Administration. The FDA has said the ban on the lethal injection drug adheres 
to a 2013 federal appeals court decision in Washington, D.C.

"He is advising the state to engage in conduct which has, as its ultimate end, 
an illegal act," the Omaha senator said Thursday.

Peterson declined to comment through his spokeswoman. In the past, the attorney 
general has said the 2013 ruling doesn't apply to Nebraska because the state 
was not a party to the case and the FDA???s interpretation goes beyond the 
court's ruling.

Chambers' grievance alleges that Peterson violated the rules of professional 
conduct for lawyers by providing incompetent legal representation to the 
Department of Correctional Services.

The complaint says that the attorney general's disregard for the FDA's position 
"brings the law into disrepute."

"The greatest of ironies in all of this lies in the fact that ... the State of 
Nebraska's chief lawman advises officials to disregard federal law based on 
political motives," Chambers stated in his grievance.

' The Counsel for Discipline will review the grievance to determine whether it 
has merit. The office could either dismiss the grievance or file charges that 
could result in actions ranging from a reprimand to disbarment.

In May, Gov. Pete Ricketts announced that Corrections had spent $54,400 for 2 
lethal injection drugs to replace substances in the state's inventory that had 
expired. A couple of weeks later, an FDA spokesman announced that it would be 
illegal to import the drug.

In the months since, the governor has repeatedly said Corrections officials 
remain in discussions with the Drug Enforcement Administration to receive 
shipments of sodium thiopental and another drug called pancuronium bromide. The 
drugs are 2 of the 3 substances needed to carry out an execution in Nebraska.

Emails over the summer from officials with both the FDA and the DEA say that 
the drug can't be imported and will not be allowed in.

Chambers championed the Legislature's repeal of the death penalty this year. 
But capital punishment supporters put the repeal on hold with a successful 
referendum petition drive. Nebraska voters will decide the issue next November.

Over the years, Chambers has filed multiple formal complaints against judges 
and attorneys. Some have resulted in discipline, while others have been 
dismissed.

(source: omaha.com)






CALIFORNIA:

Parole board decides to release Hells Angel convicted of 1975 murder


A Hells Angel member convicted for the 1975 murder of Jack Wood, the then owner 
of Edgewood Quarry in San Carlos, may be released from prison as the State 
Parole Board decided Wednesday he should be let out, according to the San Mateo 
County District Attorney's Office.

Russell Wise was convicted for accepting $5,000 to kill Wood and then shot him 
3 times with a shotgun. Wise, 70, also admitted in a previous parole board 
hearing that he was involved in the murders of at least 3 others, according to 
the District Attorney's Office.

The case will now go through administrative review within the Parole Board and 
then to the Governor's Office for review.

The District Attorney's Office strenuously objected to release on parole, 
particularly in light of his description of 3 other murders. Nevertheless the 
Parole Board found the prisoner does not constitute an unreasonable risk of 
danger to the community if released and granted him release on parole, 
according to the District Attorney's Office.

The administrative review should take about 4 months after which Gov. Jerry 
Brown will have 60 days to veto the parole, according to the District 
Attorney's Office.

Wise was originally sentenced to death. The state, however, abolished the death 
penalty in 1976 before reinstating it a year later. The penalty, however, 
cannot be applied retroactively.

If convicted today, Wise would be eligible for the death penalty, according to 
prosecutors.

(source: San Mateo Daily Journal)






OREGON:

Life without parole a better choice than death penalty


Allow me to make a well-informed prediction: The recent decision by the Oregon 
Supreme Court to uphold the death sentence of Randy Lee Guzek will prove to be 
nothing but an expensive charade.

Despite this decision, Guzek will very likely never be executed. Indeed, the 
state of Oregon has not executed anyone for nearly 20 years.

I should know. I was the prison superintendent who supervised the last 2 
executions in our state, in 1996 and 1997. I understand the cost, both human 
and financial, of the death penalty and why it is not a price worth paying by 
Oregonians.

Guzek's unsuccessful appeal follows 4 previous trials that span nearly 30 
years. Each one resulted in a death sentence that has been repeatedly 
overturned on appeal. Guzek's fellow death row inmate Dayton Rogers has also 
now had four trials and 4 death sentences, after Clackamas County jurors 
decided last month to sentence him to death again. Despite their guilt and the 
enormity of their crimes, I predict neither man will be executed.

Oregonians have spent millions of dollars on 2 cases that are over a quarter of 
a century old, and will now pay millions more for execution dates that will 
never arrive. That money, which could have been spent on crime prevention 
initiatives that would actually make our communities safer, will instead be 
used to fund a lengthy appeals process that may well not be concluded before 
either man dies of natural causes in prison.

Rogers in particular is already 62 years old and may have 30 years of appeals 
ahead of him. This is the exact same outcome that would have been achieved by a 
sentence of life without parole, but with massive additional cost.

What this new death sentence also guarantees is that Kelli Cervantes, whose 
mother, Nondace Kae Cervantes, was killed by Rogers and whom the media have 
reported wants to meet with him to obtain answers to her urgent questions, will 
never get those answers. Prison policy will not allow a defendant and a 
victim's family member to meet until all legal proceedings are over.

Had he been sentenced to true life, Rogers was ready to waive all possible 
future legal proceedings, putting an end to the money spent on his case and 
allowing Kelli Cervantes the encounter that might bring her some solace.

As it is, Kelli Cervantes and all the other family and friends of the victims, 
as well as anyone participating in future court hearings about Rogers' or 
Guzek's crimes, will undergo further trauma. Each step in the appeals process 
will bring fresh publicity and turn the media spotlight once again on Guzek and 
Rogers. How can anyone involved have an opportunity to heal while they 
experience the uncertainty and dread of waiting for the next twist in the tale?

The cases of Guzek and Rogers are "Exhibit A" for a broken system that is 
draining cash from our state's funds in pursuit of an illusion that the death 
penalty is doing anything to keep Oregonians safe. Far better that we cease our 
"tinkering with the machinery of death" and resolve to choose the sentencing 
option - life without the possibility of parole - that will protect our 
communities from harm while avoiding financial waste and further human 
suffering.

(source: Opinion; Frank Thompson is a 32-year veteran of the military, law 
enforcement, and corrections. He served as superintendent of the Oregon State 
Penitentiary and supervised 2 executions. Contact him in care of the Oregon 
Justice Resource Center, PO Box 5248, Portland, Oregon 97208---- Statesman 
Journal)






USA:

League of Women Voters: Time to abolish death penalty


The League of Women Voters has done extensive study - a yearlong process - 
before reaching consensus and taking a position on the death penalty. We 
learned a great deal in the study process. For example, is it logical for 
society to tell people that it is wrong to kill, yet then sanction capital 
punishment?

Over 117 nations have abolished the death penalty; our continuation of capital 
punishment puts us in company with Iraq, Iran and China. There is inherent bias 
in the judicial system, poor people and minorities are more likely to end up on 
death row due to ineffective counsel. Justice Ginsburg said, "People who are 
well represented at trial do not get the death penalty."

The death penalty fails to deter crime; states without the death penalty have 
crime rates equal to or less than those with the death penalty. Maintaining a 
prisoner on death row costs $90,000 a year more than a prisoner in the general 
population. The average wait on death row is roughly 15 years - cruel and 
unusual punishment. Some argue that terrorists and murderers have no humanity 
and deserve to die, but what does that say about our own humanity? The death 
penalty adversely affects those directly involved in executions - prison 
wardens, chaplains, executioners, corrections officers, judges and jurors - all 
who have a part to play in a gut wrenching decision with which they then have 
to live. Governors can grant or deny clemency, so they too are affected. Do we 
have the right to ask a public servant to bear this burden?

The lengthy appeals process hampers the healing process of victims' families. 
Human failure is a part of the justice system. The Supreme Court in 2002 
declared that execution of people with mental retardation is cruel and unusual 
punishment, yet there have been incidences of such executions. There have also 
been cases where innocent people have been executed. Execution violates a 
person's right to life. It undermines human dignity. The League of Women Voters 
supports the abolition of the death penalty.

For more information, visit www.lwv-larimercounty.org or join the conversation 
at facebook.com/lwvlarimercounty.

(source: Linda Grey-Wilson is on the Civil Liberties Team with the League of 
Women Voters of Larimer County--The Colorodan)