[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----COLO., NEV., ARIZ., CALIF., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 10



COLORADO:

Legislation would allow prosecutors to seat a 2nd jury to seek death if the 1st 
jury is hung


Colorado lawmakers will debate giving prosecutors a mulligan when seeking the 
death penalty.

State Representative Kim Ransom, R-Douglas County, is drafting legislation that 
would allow district attorneys to seat a 2nd jury, if the 1st jury does not 
agree unanimously on life in prison or a death sentence.

"If there is a hung jury, there's always a question afterwards that there was a 
hung jury," said Ransom.

Twice this summer, Colorado juries rejected the death penalty in the Aurora 
theater shooting case and the Fero's Bar stabbing trial. In the Fero's Bar 
case, Dexter Lewis was found guilty of stabbing 5 people to death and then 
setting the place on fire.

Death penalty sentencing is a 3-phase process:

Phase 1 - Aggravating Factors

-- Do the factors exist for the defendant to face the death penalty?

Phase 2 - Mitigating Factors

-- Does the defendant's life history outweigh the crime they committed?

Phase 3 - Life or Death

-- Jurors must agree unanimously on the death penalty, otherwise the sentence 
is life in prison.

In the Aurora theater shooting trial, the jury went all the way to phase three, 
before not agreeing on a death sentence. In the Fero's Bar stabbing trial, 
Lewis was spared the death penalty when the jury could not agree on getting 
past phase 2.

"It wasn't 1 specific case," said Ransom. "I don't want to run a bill that is 
affecting one specific case, one specific attorney, one specific trial."

"It's obviously in response to the James Holmes, Dexter Lewis life sentences. 
They want another shot of the death penalty," said attorney David Lane. "The 
juries that sentenced them to life were vetted for their belief in the death 
penalty and they couldn't get a unanimous jury, why do they think it's going to 
change?"

Lane defended Edward Montour, who was sentenced to death by a judge when 
Colorado law allowed for judges to determine death sentences. Montour was 
already serving a life sentence for killing his 11 month old daughter, Taylor, 
when he killed prison guard Eric Autobee at the Limon Correctional Facility in 
October 2002. His sentence was changed when the Colorado Supreme Court ruled 
that juries, and not judges, must impose death sentences. The day his 2nd death 
penalty trial started, he agreed to a plea for life in prison.

"The history of the death penalty is that every time the legislature in the 
state of Colorado tinkers with the machinery of death, the Colorado Supreme 
Court finds it to be unconstitutional," said Lane. "Why they think the 1st 
juries in these cases are going to be any different the 2nd time or the 3rd 
time or the 10th time, is beyond me."

"Having the conversation is a good thing," said Ransom. "It is the law in 
Arizona right now."

This year in Arizona, Jodi Arias faced her second death penalty sentence trial 
after she was found guilty in 2013 of killing her ex-boyfriend.

The 1st jury did not unanimously agree on life in prison or the death penalty, 
and Arizona law allows for a 2nd chance at seeking the death penalty if the 
jury is not unanimous.

"In Arizona, it's passed constitutional muster," said Ransom. "I think we're 
just trying to make sure that 'the people' are represented properly. In court, 
that's what the prosecutors say, they're appearing on behalf of 'the people.'"

The bill would also modify the second phase of sentencing, shifting some of the 
mitigating burden of proof to the defendant. Ransom did not know the exact 
language of the bill as it is still being drafted.

"That is blatantly unconstitutional under the federal Constitution, but again, 
I don't expect our legislators to understand the U.S. Constitution," said Lane.

The bill may be decided on by lawmakers, requiring a majority vote in both the 
House and the Senate, or it could be attempted as a referred measure to the 
voters, which first requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers.

"Whether we refer it or whether we try to accomplish this statutorily, I think 
it's important to have the conversation," said Morris. "I have spoken and put 
some feelers out, if you will, and there is bipartisan interest in this bill."

If the bill were to become law, it would not be retroactive; it could only be 
utilized on crimes committed after the law took effect.

(source: thedenverchannel.com)






NEVADA:

Mob Museum displays Nevada as pioneer in death penalty


The Mob Museum's newest display shows Nevada as a pioneer-- for better or for 
worse-- in the death penalty.

The museum is now showing the state's gas chair, 1 of 2 that are on loan from 
the state museum in Carson City.

"Nevada wasn't only the 1st state in the union, but the 1st jurisdiction in the 
world to authorize the gas chamber as a way to execute criminals. So it was 
very controversial at the time," says Mob Museum???s Director of Content Geoff 
Schumacher.

"The 1st execution was in 1924. There wouldn't be another execution in another 
state until 1933, so we would be pioneers-- for better or for worse-- in the 
gas chamber."

The 1st execution by gas was Ji Jong, a member of a Chinese organized crime 
group, for a murder in Northern Nevada. Schumacher says it took about a year 
from sentencing to execute Jong in 1924.

The last execution by gas would be more than 5 decades later in 1979. Jessie 
Bishop was convicted for murder following a robbery on the Las Vegas Strip, 
however, he as well had connections to organized crime.

"After he was convicted he confessed to being a hitman for 17 or 18 murders."

The chair itself is minimalistic.

"It looks like the state workers went to the state plumbing store to buy the 
supplies to build this chair on the site-- which they probably did," says 
Schumacher. "It's not very comfortable, it's not very attractive, but, of 
course, why would it be right? It's in a gas chamber. We are not looking for 
comfort or beauty."

Schumacher says it was successful in its sole purpose - executing criminals.

"It serves a very dark purpose, and so when you see the chair here in the 
museum, you kind of feel the seriousness of what happened in that chair, what 
happened in that gas chamber. And I think it's sort of humbling and a little 
eerie too."

The last execution in Nevada was April 2006 by lethal injection. The gas chair 
will be on display at The Mob Museum indefinitely.

(source: KSNV news)






ARIZONA:

Judge denies 11 defense motions in Rector case


A Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday on 11 defense motions filed in the case 
of a man charged with murdering a Bullhead City girl.

Justin James Rector, 27, is charged with 1st-degree murder, kidnapping, child 
abuse and abandonment of a dead body for the murder of 8-year-old Isabella 
Grogan-Cannella on Sept. 2, 2014.

Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen denied a defense motion filed by Rector's 
attorneys, Gerald Gavin and Ron Gilleo, to confirm that Deputy Mohave County 
Attorney Greg McPhillips will not use DNA evidence at Rector's trial.

The judge also denied Gavin's motion to preclude prosecutors from presenting 
evidence to the jury during the penalty phase that is not specific to 
mitigation evidence that is presented. The judge also denied a motion to 
exclude any juror who cannot consider mitigating factors or who will 
automatically vote for the death penalty.

Jantzen also denied a defense motion for Gavin to have access to all emotional 
victim impact statements that the prosecutor offers at trial. The judge also 
denied a motion to prohibit victim impact statements from the penalty phase.

The judge denied a defense motion for Jantzen to place on the record the 
judge???s reason to overrule any defense objection. Jantzen denied a motion to 
rule out the death penalty as a punishment.

The judge denied a motion to allow independent access to the alleged victims 
without the prosecutor's permission. Jantzen denied a motion that would prevent 
the prosecutor from making improper arguments during the trial that could 
inflame the jury.

Jantzen denied a motion to prevent McPhillips from making arguments that 
misstate the role of a juror in the penalty phase. The judge denied a defense 
motion to allow emotional impact evidence of an execution on Rector's family.

The judge set Rector's next status hearing for March 4, 2016. Rector's 10-week 
murder trial is set to begin Oct. 17, 2016, with a pre-trial hearing set for 
Aug. 23, 2016.

(source: Mohave Valley Daily News)






CALIFORNIA:

Trial begins in 2010 killings of O.C. Army veteran and his female friend


In May 2010, Steve Herr walked into his son's Costa Mesa apartment and found a 
woman's body.

Juri "Julie" Kibuishi, 23, was bent over a bed. Her pants were ripped and 
around her ankles. An expletive was written on her back.

She still wore a tiara her brother had given her that night.

Herr's son, Sam, a 26-year-old Army veteran who was a friend of Kibuishi, was 
nowhere to be found. Police began searching for Sam Herr as a suspect, but his 
father refused to believe he could be a killer.

"Immediately I said, 'Sam would never do this,'" Steve Herr said.

Authorities now think Steve Herr was right. Within a week, Sam Herr's severed 
head was found dumped in bushes at the El Dorado Nature Center in Long Beach.

"I have no forgiveness in my heart.- Miriam Nortman, Sam Herr's aunt, when 
asked about suspect Daniel Wozniak.

More than 5 years later, Steve Herr took the stand Wednesday in Orange County 
Superior Court to describe how he discovered the gruesome apartment scene. He 
was the 1st witness in the trial of the man authorities say killed Sam Herr, 
then killed Kibuishi in an attempt to cover his tracks.

Prosecutor Matt Murphy told jurors during his opening statement that Daniel 
Patrick Wozniak, 31, Sam Herr's neighbor, killed him for money.

Desperate for cash to refill an empty bank account, cover his rent and fund his 
upcoming wedding, Wozniak hatched a plan to steal thousands of dollars that 
Herr had saved from his service in Afghanistan, Murphy said.

According to Murphy, Wozniak shot Herr twice in the head while they moved 
furniture in the attic of a theater in Los Alamitos where Wozniak acted in 
community productions. Then, Murphy said, Wozniak dismembered Herr's body with 
a hatchet to hide it more easily.

To complete his scheme, Murphy said, Wozniak tried to make it look like Herr 
was on the run.

Prosecutors believe Wozniak used Herr's phone to lure Kibuishi to Herr's 
apartment, where Wozniak shot her and staged the body to appear as though she 
had been sexually assaulted.

But withdrawals from Herr's bank account led detectives to Wozniak, who 
authorities believe stole Herr's ATM card, Murphy said.

Within days of the killings, police arrested Wozniak at his bachelor party in 
Huntington Beach.

Murphy said authorities originally suspected Herr was a fugitive and that 
Wozniak was funneling money to him. But according to grand jury transcripts, 
Wozniak admitted to both killings after being questioned by detectives, and he 
directed them to Herr's remains.

Wozniak, who has pleaded not guilty to 2 counts of murder, could face the death 
penalty if convicted.

"I have no forgiveness in my heart," Sam Herr's aunt, Miriam Nortman, said 
outside the courtroom when reporters asked her about Wozniak.

Defense attorneys declined to make an opening statement Wednesday and had few 
questions for most prosecution witnesses under cross-examination.

But they have fiercely fought Wozniak's eligibility for the death penalty to 
the point that the trial was repeatedly delayed while they crafted voluminous 
motions alleging decades of misconduct by the Orange County district attorney's 
office.

In October, Judge John Conley ruled the death penalty could stay on the table, 
writing that the defense's allegations of misuse of jailhouse informants - 
whether true or not - had no bearing on Wozniak's case.

"I'm feeling relieved that we finally got started," Steve Herr said Wednesday. 
He and his wife have attended more than 100 court dates in anticipation of the 
trial, where they hope to hear exactly what happened to their son.

He and his wife, Raquel, sat in the front row Wednesday wearing 
hearing-assistance headphones that amplified the voices of lawyers and 
witnesses.

As a crime scene technician vividly described how Sam Herr's limbs and head 
were hacked off, Raquel Herr looked at the floor. She removed the headphones 
and placed her fingers in her ears.

"It was hard to see Julie's body on the bed," she said earlier. "I'm not going 
to look when they talk about Sammy."

Steve Herr held her hand but kept his headphones in place, listening.

"I've been waiting too long to hear everything," he said.

(source: Los Angeles Times)

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

Arguments Begin in High-Profile OC Death Penalty Case----An actor allegedly 
murdered 2 people to pay for his wedding to a Disneyland princess who played 
opposite him the night of the murders.


A community theater actor charged with 2 murders was deep in debt, facing 
eviction and without money for his pending nuptials when he came up with a plan 
to kill a Costa Mesa neighbor and, to throw police off his trail, make it look 
like the victim murdered and raped a friend, a prosecutor told a jury today.

And then, to make it harder for investigators to pin the murders on him, Daniel 
Patrick Wozniak dismembered 1 of the victims and dumped his body parts in the 
El Dorado Nature Center in Long Beach, Senior Deputy District Attorney Matt 
Murphy alleged.

The defendant used one of the victim's phones to lure the other victim to her 
friend's home so he could kill her and stage the crime scene, Murphy alleged.

He also tricked a 16-year-old boy who looked up to the defendant into 
withdrawing cash from the bank account of one of the victims so Wozniak could 
pay his rent, avoid eviction and have money for his wedding and honeymoon, the 
prosecutor alleged.

The complex scheme worked initially, as Costa Mesa police continued to focus on 
Wozniak's 1st victim, 26-year-old Samuel Eliezer Herr, as a suspect in the 
murder of 23-year-old Julie Kibuishi, Murphy said.

According to the prosecutor, Wozniak ultimately confessed and told 
investigators, "I killed Julie and I killed Sam. Sam came 1st. It was all just 
about money and that's it."

Wozniak knew Herr as a friendly neighbor who also enjoyed the hot tub at the 
Camden Martinique apartments in Costa Mesa across from Orange Coast College, 
where Herr was a student following a stint as a U.S. Army paratrooper who did a 
tour of duty in Afghanistan. Herr wanted to rejoin the Army and attain an 
officer's rank, Murphy said.

Kibuishi lived at home in Irvine with her parents, but she was Herr???s best 
friend and often slept on his couch.

"He was kind of like a big brother to Julie," Murphy said. "And Julie was like 
his platonic wife who nagged him to do his homework."

On May 22, 2010, Herr's father could not get in touch with his son, which was 
unusual, so drove over to his apartment and discovered Kibuishi's body, Murphy 
said. Her jeans and underwear were ripped, and written on the back of her top 
was, "All yours, (expletive) you."

Also found in the apartment was a bizarre sketch of a woman who appeared Asian 
with the words, "I'm done" on it, Murphy said.

Initially, police suspected Herr of raping and murdering Kibuishi, Murphy said. 
But a sharp-eyed crime scene investigators noticed the "s" on the sketch and 
the note on the victim's back did not match Herr's handwriting. Instead, it 
looked more like the writing on a wedding invitation from Wozniak.

As police continued to follow clues, they then began to believe Wozniak was 
somehow involved in helping Herr get away with the murder. But the more they 
focused on Wozniak, the more they got the feeling he was the culprit and Herr 
was innocent, Murphy said.

One of the main clues initially was the active use of Herr's ATM card in Long 
Beach that was used to order pizza and to make maximum daily cash withdrawals, 
Murphy said.

Wozniak enlisted then-16-year-old Wesley Frielich, who met the defendant when 
he was 10 and appeared in a play at Liberty Theater on the Los Alamitos 
military base. The boy looked up to Wozniak, who called him "out of the blue" 
after being out of touch for a couple of years, the prosecutor said. Wozniak 
told the boy he was working for a bail bondsman and needed to help retrieve 
money from a customer who had skipped bail, Murphy said. The teen reluctantly 
agreed to go along with the scheme and would hand over the cash to Wozniak, 
Murphy said.

Police began to stake out the ATMs and the pizza place, and as they followed 
Frielich., it led them to Wozniak, Murphy said.

Wozniak, who was arrested at his bachelor party at Tsunami Sushi in Huntington 
Beach, concocted a story about getting into a credit card scam with Herr and 
then trying to help his friend get away with the murder, Murphy said. Part of 
the scam involved Wozniak sneaking money out of Herr's account to help with his 
getaway, the prosecutor said.

Police did not believe the story because it made more sense that Herr would 
just clean out his account before the crime, Murphy said. Wozniak, however, 
dazzled them with his acting in the interrogation and was "selling it" 
initially, Murphy said.

As Wozniak's story faced more challenges from detectives, the defendant then 
said he was in fear of Herr, who he claimed had threatened to kill him if he 
cooperated with authorities, Murphy said.

Wozniak's ultimate undoing was a collect call he made from the Costa Mesa jail 
to his fiancee, co-defendant, Rachael Mae Buffett, who is charged as an 
accessory after the fact, Murphy said.

Buffett told Wozniak that his big brother, Tim, who is also charged as an 
accessory after the fact and is expected to testify in the trial, was in 
trouble for handling evidence, Murphy said.

"Then I'm doomed," Wozniak replied before pleading with his fiancee to not come 
forward to authorities, according to the prosecutor.

Wozniak had handed his brother a backpack stuffed with Herr's clothes, wallet 
and cell phone, Murphy said. Tim Wozniak threw the satchel full of evidence 
into the yard of his parents' home in Long Beach, Murphy said, adding the 
brothers had been estranged from their mother and father.

Wozniak lured Herr to the Los Alamitos base theater under the ruse of helping 
him move some props around, Murphy alleged. When they got there, they climbed 
up to an attic, where Wozniak shot Herr twice in the head, because the 1st shot 
was not fatal, Murphy alleged.

Wozniak then used Herr's phone to lure Kibuishi via text messages to Herr's 
apartment that evening, so he could kill her and make it look like Herr had 
done it, Murphy alleged.

Wozniak shot Kibuishi twice in the head, as well, the prosecutor alleged. 
Despite trying to make it appear as if she were sexually assaulted, there was 
no evidence that occurred, Murphy said.

Wozniak took the stage after Herr's execution-style killing as the star of the 
Hunger Artist Theater's performance of "9," then killed Kibuishi after the 
show, Murphy alleged.

Wozniak returned to Los Alamitos to dismember Herr's body, hacking off a hand, 
an arm and the victim's head, Murphy alleged. But the defendant, in his haste, 
left behind a shell casing from the gun that matched ballistics tests on the 
murder weapon, an antique Llama II .380-caliber automatic pistol, Murphy 
alleged.

Wozniak's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders, waived his chance 
to an opening statement. Sanders' co-counsel, Tracy Lesage, may make an opening 
statement later in the trial.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Wozniak, so the trial will be 
conducted in 2 phases. In the 1st phase, the jurors will consider the 
defendant's guilt, and if he is convicted, they will consider whether to 
recommend life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death 
penalty.

(source: patch.com)






USA:

17 in gang case may face death penalty


The federal racketeering and murder case against the prison gang Syndicato 
Nuevo Mexico indicted Dec. 1 could become a death penalty prosecution for 17 of 
the 25 defendants.

Las Cruces prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office have filed a request 
asking U.S. District Judge Kenneth Gonzales to hold off on appointment of 
"learned counsel" in the indictments until U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch 
decides whether to approve death penalty prosecution against any of the 
defendants.

At least 1 defense lawyer has filed a response opposing it, saying she has no 
experience in death penalty cases in state or federal court and her client is 
entitled to learned counsel as soon as a death-eligible case is indicted.

The process for federal death penalty cases requires indigent defendants to 
have attorneys who are knowledgeable and experienced in death penalty 
litigation, known as "learned counsel."

The motion filed Friday by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maria Armijo and Randy 
Castellano says they are seeking an "expedited capital case review and decision 
as to the death penalty."

They're asking Gonzales to extend the deadline for appointment of learned 
counsel until mid-January.

The indictment says SNM, a violent and powerful prison gang involved in 
narcotics trafficking inside and outside prison, has engaged in violent 
activities including multiple murders and assaults to maintain or expand its 
territory and take out members of rival gangs.

According to the motion, those facing a federal death prosecution are Joe 
Gallegos, Edward "Huero" Troup, Leonard Lujan, Billy "Wild Bill" Garcia, Eugene 
"Little Huero" Martinez, Allen Patterson, Christopher "Critter" Chavez, Javier 
"Wineo" Alonso, Benjamin "Cyclone" Clark, Ruben Hernandez, Jerry "Creeper" 
Armenta, Jerry "Boxer" Montoya, Mario "Blue" Rodriguez, Timothy "Red" Martinez, 
Anthony Ray "Pup" Baca, Mauricio "Archie" "Hog Nuts" Varela and Daniel "Dan 
Dan" Sanchez.

(source: Albuquerque Journal)