[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----CONN., DEL., N.C., GA., FLA., OHIO, IND., S. DAK., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 11



CONNECTICUT:

Debate Challenges Death-Penalty Positions


Wendy Marte was firmly against the death penalty, but she played devil's 
advocate to better understand her classmates' perspectives.

Marte challenged her political stance during "Justice Day" at New Haven 
Academy, an annual daylong series of several seminars and workshops pushing 
students to analyze and take action on community issues.

Students chose 2 of 9 discussion seminars revolving around modern ideas of 
injustice and ended the day with hands-on workshops connecting those issues to 
ongoing New Haven projects.

New Haven Academy math teacher Jerry Volpe provided students with pages of 
statistics, to help them form opinions on the death penalty. He showed the cost 
of the death penalty in appeals and legal fees, the demographic breakdown of 
death row convicts, the amount of times Connecticut has used it versus other 
states, and the prevalence of the death penalty in the U.S. compared to other 
countries.

"The goal is not to be on one side of the other," but rather to form informed 
opinions, he said.

Volpe and his co-instruction Pete Kazienko (left), a world history teacher at 
the city high school, started with a simple poll: Do you support the death 
penalty?

Students texted their answers to the "Poll Everywhere" live platform that 
updated in real-time on the projector. 8 % said yes and that number slowly rose 
to 36 %; 21 % did not support the death penalty and 43 % were unsure.

Next, Kazienko asked what the purpose of the death penalty was.

Again the responses went up on the board immediately. "An eye for an eye," one 
student wrote.

"To achieve retribution for the crimes someone has committed," another wrote.

"To rid the world of the people who don't deserve the privilege of life," 
another texted.

That got Marte fired up. "You're not God," she said. "You don't have the right 
to decide if someone deserves to live."

Kazienko asked students to seriously respond to 1 student's written assertion 
that "pleasure" was a purpose of the death penalty.

Playing devil's advocate, Marte said she could see how a victim of a heinous 
crime could feel good about seeing the perpetrator get the death penalty.

"If I'm the mother of a daughter assaulted by a pedophile. By me seeing a 
pedophile get the death penalty, I see some sort of justice out of seeing 
that," she said. She then clarified: "That's not really my point of view 
though."

Do people deserve to die for their crimes? Most said no, but many were unsure.

Zion Satal, an 11th grader, said he believes in "forgiveness," since killing 1 
person "doesn't bring those other people back."

But Dinesh Mandania qualified his answer. A serial killer who promises to 
continue murdering people could be a good candidate for the death penalty.

Superintendent Garth Harries said he was impressed by the level of engagement 
present in the day's seminars.

"It underscored ways in which the approach to action gets students involved in 
the problems our city faces," he said.

New Haven Academy has been working with Greater Schools Partnership to increase 
interdisciplinary learning in its classrooms. Students were encouraged to take 
ideas from the day to create their senior Social Action projects.

Meredith Garvin, New Haven Academy's school director, hired a filmmaker to 
document last year's seniors as they went through the process of finishing 
individual Social Action Projects in different areas of New Haven.

(source: New Haven Independent)






DELAWARE:

Delaware Panel Wraps Up Public Hearings on Criminal Justice Reform


The final forum yesterday for the Access to Justice Commission Committee heard 
calls for smarter reforms of the criminal justice system.

Much of the testimony surrounded issues ranging from ending bail and reducing 
mandatory sentencing to ending the 3 strikes law and the death penalty.

The Wilmington News Journal reports Carri Seward with the Delaware Coalition to 
Dismantle the New Jim Crow told the panel that the harm that has been done to 
the African American community needs to be repaired.

The panel was created by Delaware Supreme Court Justice Leo Strine Jr. to find 
ways to end the racial disparity in the state's criminal justice system.

While African Americans only make up 22 % of the state's population they are 
over 50 % of the prison population.

This was the last of 6 hearings where the public and experts were able to weigh 
in.

(source: delmarvapublicradio.net)






NORTH CAROLINA:

Man twice sentenced to death for killing elderly woman in 1987 now being 
considered for parole


On December 13, 1987, Thomas Mark Adams robbed and murdered a 70 year old woman 
in Davie County.

The trial was moved to Iredell County after Adams attorneys argued that their 
client may not be able to get a fair trial. 1988, Adams was convicted of 1st 
degree robbery with a dangerous weapon, 1st degree burglary, and 1st degree 
murder. He was sentenced to death.

The 1988 conviction was thrown out in 1994 when it was determined that the jury 
had been given faulty instructions during the sentencing phase. Adams was given 
a new trial in 1995, and was again convicted and sentenced to death.

In 2005 the death penalty was vacated in Iredell County Superior Court after 
the US Supreme Court ruled that the execution of juveniles was 
unconstitutional. Adams was 17 at the time of the murder.

Adams was 1 of 7 inmates on death row in North Carolina whose lives were spared 
because of that ruling.

Among the others was Kevin Golphin, who was convicted of the murders of a North 
Carolina State Highway Patrol trooper and a Cumberland County Sheriff's deputy 
in 1997.

Now serving a life sentence, the NC Post Release Division and Parole Commission 
is considering parole for Adams.

In a letter that is required to be sent to local media outlets in the area 
where the crime occurred, it states "information gathered during this 
investigation from persons for and against this parole, as well as facts in the 
case, will be considered by the Commission in making its decision."

Adams is currently serving his life sentence at Piedmont Correctional 
Institution in Salisbury. He has been in prison since his original conviction 
in 1988.

Adams has committed 9 infractions in prison, including drug possession, 
bribery, interfering with prison staff, theft, and 2 counts of weapon 
possession.

(source: WBTV news)






GEORGIA:

Warner Robins man facing death penalty in 1994 bathtub drowning appears in 
court


Homer Ridley III had his 1st appearance hearing Thursday in Houston County 
Superior Court on charges of drowning his next-door neighbor in a bathtub 21 
years ago.

Ridley, who faces the possibility of the death penalty if found guilty, 
currently is serving a life a sentence for a 1988 rape in Warner Robins.

Thursday's hearing was mostly procedural, with Chief Judge Rucker Smith of the 
Superior Court of the Southwestern Judicial District finding that Ridley was 
indigent and entitled to representation from the Office of the Georgia Capital 
Defender.

Smith is presiding over the case since Houston County Superior Court judges 
have recused themselves.

The hearing recessed briefly before resuming in order for Ridley to meet his 
capital defender attorneys. In all, Ridley has 5 attorneys representing him -- 
including 2 private attorneys without prior death-penalty-case experience who 
were hired by his parents.

Smith said from the bench that he initially had some concerns about the age of 
the case.

"My understanding is that new evidence has come up recently, so that deals with 
(the) speedy trial (issue)," he said.

In May, a Houston County grand jury indicted Ridley, 46, on 1 count of malice 
murder and 2 counts of felony murder in the slaying of 20-year-old Summer 
Gleaton.

Gleaton's partially clad body was found in the bathtub of her Terry Street home 
on Dec. 1, 1994. Her wrists and ankles were bound. Her 6-month-old child was in 
the home but was not harmed.

Gleaton had been fighting with her boyfriend earlier that day and went to 
Ridley's residence next door to call for help.

The boyfriend initially was a suspect but has since been cleared. Ridley also 
was suspected at the time, but police didn't have enough evidence to move 
forward with charges.

A date for an arraignment hearing in which Ridley is expected to enter a not 
guilty plea in Gleaton's slaying has not been set.

District Attorney George Hartwig and Jerry Word, who heads the capital 
defender's office, declined comment on the case Thursday.

Several members of Ridley's family was in the courtroom, including his mother 
and father from Warner Robins. Ridley was handcuffed and dressed in an orange 
jail jumpsuit.

Several members of Gleaton's family sat in a front row of the courtroom. 
Members of both families declined comment.

In 1995, Ridley also was indicted in the 1992 slaying of 19-year-old Ledia 
Olivera in Hawkinsville. She was found in her home after being raped, strangled 
and her head bashed against the bathroom sink. Her 5-month-old child was in the 
home but was unharmed.

In that case, Ridley pleaded not guilty in November 1995. The case was 
indefinitely suspended in January 1999 at the request of the prosecution over 
evidentiary problems.

Timothy Vaughn, district attorney for the Oconee Judicial Circuit who sat in on 
Ridley's hearing Thursday, said the Olivera case remains under review.

Ridley currently is serving his life sentence in Macon State Prison for the 
Aug. 22, 1988 rape of a woman. Her hands were bound behind her back, and her 
feet were tied with cords.

She was raped on the floor near her infant son's crib while her other 3 
children slept in the house.

(source: macon.com)






FLORIDA:

Court could change Florida's death penalty


With the lowest threshold in the nation for death sentences, Florida juries are 
sentencing prisoners to death faster than Gov. Rick Scott can sign their death 
warrants.

Most of the other 31 states that have the death penalty require a unanimous 
jury vote. Alabama requires at least a 10-2 vote. Delaware requires jurors to 
find an aggravating circumstance.

But a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on whether the state's majority vote is 
constitutional could go against Florida. Some lawmakers are pushing bills to 
require a unanimous jury vote for the death penalty.

"I think it just makes sense," said Sen. Thad Altman, R-Viera, who is 
sponsoring SB 330, which would mandate a unanimous jury vote.

Prosecutors object

Prosecutors, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, have argued against changing 
the jury threshold in the past. They say some of Florida's most notorious 
murderers who committed heinous crimes, including serial killer Ted Bundy, 
would have been spared the death penalty if the threshold were increased.

What could change things this year is the U.S. Supreme Court case and the 
timing of its ruling.

If the court overturns Florida's death penalty threshold and issues a ruling 
before the legislative session ends in March, it gives lawmakers a chance to 
pass a bill requiring the unanimous jury.

But if that decision isn't rendered until after the session ends, lawmakers 
couldn't do anything about it until 2017, unless they called a special session 
to deal with the matter. That could create a "moment of chaos in the criminal 
justice system," said Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez, D-Miami, the sponsor of the 
House version of the bill.

Rodriguez also said there will likely be a parade of appeals if the court rules 
against Florida. Any death row inmate who got a less than unanimous jury vote 
would have a brand new argument in court.

The current threshold has helped add to the death row roster. According to a 
legislative analysis, from 2000-2012, only 60 out of 296 jury recommendations 
on death sentences - about 20 % - were unanimous.

(source: Florida Courier)






OHIO:

Warren man facing death penalty tries to fire lawyers


A man facing the death penalty in a Youngstown murder case tried to fire his 
lawyers Wednesday morning.

Lance Hundley is charged in the beating death of Erika Huff last month, as well 
as the assault of Huff's mother, who survived the alleged attack. Prosecutors 
say Hundley tried to cover up his crimes by setting fire to the victim's 
Cleveland Avenue home.

Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas Judge Maureen Sweeney refused Hundley's 
request to change attorneys. His lawyers may have Hundley evaluated to see if 
he is competent to stand trial.

(source: WYTV news)



INDIANA:

Indiana man convicted in 3 deaths challenges 1 death penalty


An attorney for a southern Indiana man convicted of killing 3 women argued 
Thursday that his death sentence in one of the slayings should be thrown out 
because the judge didn't sufficiently consider the importance of his 
confession.

The attorney for William Clyde Gibson III told the Indiana Supreme Court that 
Clyde's confession to the strangulation death of 35-year-old Stephanie Kirk of 
Charlestown was key to resolving her disappearance.

Gibson, 58, pleaded guilty last year to killing Kirk, whose body was found 
buried in the yard of his New Albany home in 2012. His guilty plea came after 
he had already been given a death sentence in another of the three killings.

Defense attorney Laura Paul said a Floyd County judge should have given greater 
weight to Gibson's confession since police hadn't been able to link him to 
Kirk's disappearance. She said Gibson should be sentenced to life in prison.

"If he hadn't confessed, no one would've ever known why Stephanie Kirk 
disappeared, what had happened to her, who had killed her," Paul said. "The 
community would've thought that her killer was still at large."

Gibson's arrest in the death of 75-year-old Christine Whitis, who was his late 
mother's best friend, led to the discovery of Kirk's remains eight days later 
in the city just north of Louisville, Kentucky. Authorities later charged him 
with killing Karen Hodella, 44, of Port Orange, Florida, whose body was found 
in 2002 near the Ohio River in Clarksville.

An attorney for the state argued that Gibson's death sentence for Kirk's death 
is proper and disputed the importance of his confession.

"He was seen with the woman, she was missing and she was buried in his 
backyard," Deputy Attorney General Andrew Kobe said. "The claim that they would 
have never been able to connect her murder to him without his confession is 
going a bit far."

The Supreme Court could take weeks or months to release a ruling on Gibson's 
appeal.

The justices in September upheld Gibson's death sentence for killing Whitis, 
but his attorneys plan further appeals of that sentence.

Gibson has also been sentenced to 65 years in prison after pleading guilty to 
murder charges in Hodella's death.

(source: whio.com)






SOUTH DAKOTA:

Bipartisan group to bring death penalty repeal bill in 2016, hope Nebraska will 
serve as precedent.


Arthur Rusch knows about the emotional toll of sentencing a killer to death.

The state senator and retired Lincoln County circuit court judge presided over 
the case of Donald Moeller, a Sioux Falls man found guilty of raping and 
killing 9-year-old Becky O'Connell in 1990. Moeller was sentenced to death in 
1997 and was executed by lethal injection in 2012.

Rusch, a Vermillion Republican, said he saw the anguish of a jury tasked with 
deciding whether to end a man's life, and believes that gives him additional 
insight into the impact of capital punishment.

"I think I'm more knowledgeable about the emotional toll," Rusch said. "It's 
really hard on people having to make that decision."

And Rusch said he'll try to bring up that emotional effect as well as the 
financial impact to the state in attempting to convince fellow legislators to 
repeal the state's death penalty next year. Rusch said he hadn't yet talked to 
his caucus about the bill, but hoped it would make it to the Senate floor for 
debate.

"I know there's this reaction that keeping people in jail for many, many years 
is expensive, but it's nowhere near as expensive as the court costs," Rusch 
said.

Similar bills have failed in legislative committee hearings in years past. And 
Republicans say the bipartisan bill will face tough odds in the GOP-controlled 
Legislature. Gov. Dennis Daugaard and Attorney General Marty Jackley have both 
said they support capital punishment in limited circumstances.

Rep. Don Haggar, R-Sioux Falls, said he was skeptical about the bill's chances 
in the conservative House of Representatives. He said the few instances in 
which the penalty has been used in the state's history were for the most 
extreme offenders.

"I think you have to consider the victims. The sense of justice for them I 
think trumps everything," Haggar said. "I would have a difficult time standing 
in front of that family and saying the offender would get anything less than 
the death penalty."

South Dakota is one of 31 states that allow capital punishment. The state has 
put to death 18 inmates since 1877, with the oldest dating back to the days of 
the Dakota Territory.

So far this year, 28 inmates have been executed in the United States - down 
from 35 inmates executed last year. The 2014 number was the lowest rate in 2 
decades.

There are currently 3 inmates on death row in South Dakota. All 3 were 
convicted on murder charges.

Sen. Bernie Hunhoff, D-Yankton, has sponsored similar measures in the past and 
said that a successful legislative effort in Nebraska, another conservative 
state, could set a precedent for South Dakota. Nebraska approved a measure 
earlier this year that would repeal the state's death penalty. Voters there 
will decide if that decision should stand in 2016.

"You can see that gradual transformation in Nebraska," Hunhoff said, "and 
you're seeing that very same thing here."

Kristi McLaughlin, executive director of the South Dakota Peace and Justice 
Center, also said the Nebraska decision could act as a catalyst in pushing 
South Dakota's Legislature to repeal the penalty.

"The hard-on-crime mentality, the kill-people-because-they-killed-people 
mentality is slightly barbaric," McLaughlin said.

But Haggar said the push for repeal from South Dakota's neighbor to the south 
likely wouldn't have much effect.

"I don't think it will really sway public opinion or policy makers' opinions in 
South Dakota," he said.

Denny Davis, director of South Dakotans Against the Death Penalty, plans to 
host an informational event in Sioux Falls on Saturday about efforts to repeal. 
He said he hopes this effort will be his last in trying to push the measure 
through the Statehouse.

"I certainly have that optimism, I don't have a crystal ball but we're going to 
do everything we can," Davis said.

Current death row inmates

Charles Rhines: Rhines, of Rapid City, was convicted in the 1992 stabbing death 
of 22-year-old Donnivan Schaffer during a burglary at a Rapid City doughnut 
shop.

Briley Piper: The Anchorage, Alaska, man was convicted of the 2000 torture 
murder of Chester Allan Poage.

Rodney Berget: The Sioux Falls man pleaded guilty to the murder of Correctional 
Officer Ronald "R.J." Johnson.

(source: Sioux Falls Argus Leader)






USA:

Donald Trump: Death Penalty for Anyone Who Kills Police Officer


Donald Trump, after receiving the endorsement of the New England Police 
Benevolence Association, announced that he supported the death penalty for 
anyone who kills a police officer.

Speaking to a police union in New Hampshire, Republican presidential candidate 
Donald Trump said as president, he would call for the death of anyone who 
killed a police officer.

"Anybody killing a police officer - death penalty is going to happen," Trump 
said to raucous applause Thursday night.

The Republican front-runner was the special guest at a Portsmouth forum by the 
New England Police Benevelent Association, which announced its endorsement of 
Trump at the event.

(source: necn.com)