[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.C., ALA., KY., MO., NEB.

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 12



NORTH CAROLINA:

Despite DNA results, defense lawyer says client innocent of 1991 slayings


Any doubt that Norfolk Junior "Fuzzy" Best Jr. murdered a popular and prominent 
Whiteville couple in 1991 should be erased by new DNA test results, the former 
prosecutor who handled the death penalty case says.

"I'm real glad that the technology has advanced to the point that if anyone had 
a lingering doubt that Fuzzy Best committed this murder, it is gone," former 
District Attorney Rex Gore said Friday.

Leslie and Gertrude Baldwin were stabbed to death in their Whiteville home on 
Nov. 30, 1991, prosecutors said. Their bodies were found a few days later.

Leslie Baldwin, 82, a well-known professional photographer, was found on the 
floor in a hallway leading to a bedroom. Gertrude Baldwin, 77, was found on her 
bed.

Best, now 61, was convicted of their murders on June 4, 1993, and sentenced to 
death.

DNA evidence discovered in 2012 was tested by Sorenson Forensics, a Utah 
laboratory. It concluded that Best's semen was almost certainly recovered in a 
vaginal swab taken from Gertrude Baldwin, who was raped.

The Sorenson report, entered in a recent court filing, concludes that the 
chance that DNA could come from a man unrelated to Best in the United States is 
490 trillion to 1.

Michael L. Unti is one of two Raleigh lawyers representing Best in his appeal. 
Unti said he will argue that doubt remains, and that his client maintains that 
he did not kill the Baldwins.

"He (Best) is adamant that he did not do this," Unti said. "He believed that 
the test results are wrong or that the samples have not been kept within the 
chain of custody properly."

State law requires that a hearing be held after DNA test results are filed in 
court in an appeal, Unti said.

Resident Superior Court Judge Douglas Sasser will schedule that hearing, 
possibly in January, Unti said.

Unti and lawyer Sharon Smith were appointed in 2010 by the state's Indigent 
Defense Services to represent Best in post-conviction proceedings.

They argued in an August 2014 court filing that Whiteville police and SBI 
investigators "targeted" Best after learning he had done yard work for the 
Baldwins on the day of their deaths and built their case on that premise.

Unti and Smith argued that Best's trial lawyers provided inadequate counsel and 
that evidence was withheld by the state.

Much of that evidence was discovered in 2012 in the attic of Whiteville City 
Hall. It included notes indicating the murders took place at least a day later 
than prosecutors argued, when Best had an alibi.

Unti said Friday that he was surprised by the test results and that he believed 
the newly recovered DNA evidence would exonerate Best.

Gore said that while he was not surprised by the results, the prosecution 
hinged on more basic scientific evidence.

"We didn't have this kind of DNA testing then," Gore said. "We always had a 
fingerprint, and we had the right guy."

Best remains on death row in Raleigh's Central Prison. North Carolina has not 
executed an inmate since 2006.

(source: Fayetteville Observer)






ALABAMA----impending execution

Alabama says federal judge should not block execution


The Alabama Attorney General's Office has asked a federal judge to reject 
Alabama death row inmate Christopher Brooks' request to delay his scheduled 
execution next month.

The execution would be the 1st in Alabama since July 25, 2013 and the 1st under 
the state's new lethal injection combination. The state had to find a new 
lethal injection combination after certain drugs became unavailable.

The Atttorney General's Office says in its response to Brooks' request that 
Brooks' is too late in filing a lawsuit challenging the state's new three-drug 
lethal injection protocol.

"Christopher Brooks has known since September 2014 that the Alabama Department 
of Corrections changed its lethal injection protocol, has known since March 10, 
2015, that the Alabama Supreme Court ordered his execution, and has known since 
September 24, 2015, that the State of Alabama was again asking the Supreme 
Court to order his death, yet he waited until November 2, 2015, to begin the 
process of challenging the State's current method of execution," the Attorney 
General's Office states in its response.

The Alabama Supreme Court on Nov. 23 set Brooks' execution date for Jan. 21. 
Brooks had exhausted his direct appeals and the Alabama Attorney General's 
Office on Sept. 24 asked the Alabama Supreme Court to set an execution date.

Brooks' also can't produce evidence sufficient to establish that he has a 
substantial likelihood of success of getting a court to agree with his claims 
regarding the lethal injection protocols, the Attorney General's response 
states.

Effort to reach Brooks' attorney for comment prior to publication of this story 
were unsuccessful.

Brooks was convicted in 1993 of murder during the course of a rape, robbery, 
and burglary for killing Jo Deann Campbell. A jury recommended Brooks receive 
the death penalty and a judge sentenced him to death.

Brooks and Campbell, 23, met in 1991 when they worked at different summer camps 
on a lake in New York, where Brooks and his parents then lived.

Brooks and another man came to Homewood on Dec. 30, 1992, to visit Campbell and 
stay the night.

The next evening, police found Campbell's body stuffed under her bed, her badly 
beaten head wrapped in her sweat pants. Police testified they found one of 
Brooks' palm prints on Campbell's ankle and his thumbprint in her blood on her 
bedroom doorknob. A state forensic scientist testified that DNA tests matched 
semen from Campbell's body to Brooks.

Police arrested Brooks and another man in Columbus, Ga., on charges that they 
bought beer, soda, gas and other items the day before with Campbell's credit 
card.

A friend of Brooks, who also was at the apartment, was not indicted on charges.

[note: AL.com is participating in "The Next to Die" with The Marshall Project 
to track and provide information on scheduled executions]

(source: al.com)






KENTUCKY:

Grand jury indicts Madden in rape, death of Gabbi Doolin


Timothy Wayne Madden was indicted Friday by a special Allen County grand jury 
in connection with the death of 7-year-old Gabriella "Gabbi" Doolin.

Madden, 38, of Scottsville, was formally charged with murder, kidnapping, 
1st-degree rape and 1st-degree sodomy and was ordered held without bond.

Until Friday's indictment, Madden was scheduled to appear in Allen District 
Court on Monday for a preliminary hearing, at which Allen County Attorney Bill 
Hagenbuch would have attempted to establish probable cause to send the case to 
the grand jury.

The indictment, however, effectively cancels the preliminary hearing, and 
Madden is now scheduled to be arraigned in Allen Circuit Court on Jan. 13.

"I'm not surprised that the grand jury indicted him prior to the preliminary 
hearing," said Madden's attorney, Travis Lock of Bowling Green. "This basically 
gets us one step closer toward the time when the commonwealth will be obligated 
to produce whatever evidence they believe supports their belief they have the 
right man here."

Gabbi Doolin's body was found Nov. 14 in a creek in a wooded area behind Allen 
County-Scottsville High School, where her older brother was playing in a youth 
league football game.

Manual strangulation and drowning were listed as the causes of death, and 
evidence suggested Gabbi Doolin was raped and sodomized, according to court 
records.

Gabbi was reported missing 25 minutes before her body was found.

Kentucky State Police arrested Madden on Nov. 20. Investigators collected a DNA 
sample from Madden as well as the clothes he was wearing Nov. 14, according to 
court records.

Forensic analysis led to a positive match between the DNA sample collected from 
Madden and DNA recovered from Gabbi Doolin, according to an arrest citation.

Lock said he has seen no evidence other than a preliminary report he received 
shortly before Madden was originally scheduled to appear for a preliminary 
hearing Dec. 2. Allen District Judge Martha Blair Harrison continued that 
hearing after Lock informed the court about receiving the report.

"The collection, sampling and testing of DNA is a very meticulous process that 
has a tremendous amount of room for error that could potentially call into 
question the reliability of the results," Lock said.

Subpoenas have been served by Lock on 2 establishments believed to have 
surveillance video footage of Madden on Nov. 14. Lock said he has not obtained 
copies of the video footage.

With the indictment, the case will now be prosecuted by Allen County 
Commonwealth's Attorney Clint Willis.

State law allows the death penalty to be sought against a defendant found to 
have committed a murder or kidnapping while engaged in the commission of 
1st-degree rape or 1st-degree sodomy.

Willis would have to file a notice of intent to seek the death penalty before 
the case were to go to trial.

(source: Bowling Green Daily News)






MISSOURI:

Date set for Columbia man's execution appeal


A 3-judge panel will hear arguments for Ernest Lee Johnson's case on January 13 
at the Thomas Eagleton Courthouse in St. Louis. A Boone County jury convicted 
Johnson 20 years ago for killing 3 convenience store employees in February 1994 
in north Columbia. 3 separate juries upheld the death penalty sentence since 
his conviction.

The U.S. Supreme Court halted his execution just hours before it was set to 
happen on November 3. Johnson's attorneys claim pentobarbital, the drug the 
state of Missouri uses in its execution, will cause "severe, painful" seizures 
when reacting to the scar tissue in his brain, caused by a surgery to remove a 
tumor in 2008. The Supreme Court order sent the case back the Court of Appeals 
to reconsider Johnson's claims that lethal injection would be "cruel and 
unusual punishment" under the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution.

Jeremy Weis, Johnson's attorney, claimed Missouri could instead use lethal gas, 
the only other legal form of execution in the state. The Missouri Attorney 
General's Office claims Johnson has no proof lethal gas would be any less 
harmful than lethal injection.

Circuit Judges Lavenski Smith of Little Rock, Steven Colloton of Des Moines and 
Raymond Gruender of St. Louis will hear oral arguments, scheduled for 2 p.m.

**********

State representative files bill to 'optimize' death row----New rule would 
expedite execution process for those without further chance of appeal


State lawmakers will soon discuss House Bill 1647, which would reform 
Missouri's execution process.

State Rep. Mike Kelley, R-Lamar, said the bill would require the state Supreme 
Court to perform a review on all pending death row cases within 30 days of it 
passing.

The bill would also require the court to schedule an execution within 60 days 
of the review's completion.

Kelley said the bill would both save the state about $30,000 a year per inmate. 
He said it would more effectively carry out the court's decision to impose the 
death penalty.

"My goal is not to ever execute anyone that's innocent. That's no one's goal," 
Kelley said. "When you have a person who's admitted they are guilty, once there 
are no more appeals available, that sentence needs to be carried out."

There are currently 27 inmates facing the death penalty in Missouri.

(source for both: ABC news)






NEBRASKA:

The state will try, but may never recoup thousands paid for drugs, officials 
say


Gov. Pete Ricketts' office has directed the Nebraska Department of Correctional 
Services to review the purchase agreement with HarrisPharma to determine if the 
state can get back any of the $54,400 it paid in advance for lethal injection 
drugs.

"It is unclear what recourse the state has, if any, to recover the funds at 
this time," Ricketts spokesman Taylor Gage said Friday.

A week ago, the governor announced he would delay executions until after 
Nebraskans vote on the death penalty repeal in November and that he won't make 
additional efforts to acquire lethal injection drugs while reviewing potential 
changes in the execution protocol.

In May, shortly before the Legislature repealed the death penalty and then 
overrode Ricketts' veto of the repeal, the Corrections Department ordered 1,000 
1-gram vials of sodium thiopental at a cost of $25 per vial and 1,000 ampules 
of 2 mg/2 ml of pancuronium bromide at $26 per ampule. The total cost was 
$54,400, paid in advance - and with nothing more than a purchase order - to 
broker Chris Harris of Harris Pharma, a company in India that has sold sodium 
thiopental to Nebraska in the past under somewhat questionable circumstances.

The drugs were never delivered.

Omaha Sen. Bob Krist, chairman of the Legislature's Executive Board, said 
asking Harris to give the money back should be on the list of things to do, but 
he doubts collecting money from a broker with a somewhat shady reputation to 
begin with will be possible.

The Ricketts administration should never have tried to buy the drugs from Chris 
Harris, Krist said, and doing so shows poor judgment.

It's questionable whether the state has an internal process in place to recoup 
funds by holding the agency or its director accountable for a purchase and 
docking pay.

"I would say at this point it's time to move on," Krist said.

At the same time, he commended Ricketts for holding off on executions until 
there's a vote of the people.

Corrections Director Scott Frakes was questioned about the purchase of the 
drugs by senators this fall at a hearing of the Department of Corrections 
Special Investigative Committee.

Omaha Sen. Heath Mello said then that he was concerned the state had no way to 
recoup the tax money paid to Harris.

"I'm not trying to get you to say that you're never going to get the drugs," 
Mello told Frakes. "I know you're never going to get those drugs."

State Treasurer Don Stenberg said the state should make an effort to recover 
funds whenever possible.

Doing so would be up to the agency that requested the expenditure, in this case 
the Corrections Department, said treasurer's office spokeswoman Jana Langemach. 
How those officials do that would be up to them, she said.

A spokesman for an anti-death penalty group said Ricketts should use all means 
possible to get the state's money back immediately.

It's unfortunate that Nebraska did not use due diligence before doing business 
with HarrisPharma, especially given his shady past with our state, said Dan 
Parsons, spokesman for Nebraskans for Public Safety, which supports the 
Legislature's repeal of the death penalty.

But the fact remains, he said, that no matter where the state tries to get the 
drugs, the Food and Drug Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration 
and now Nebraska's U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg have all said they are illegal 
and cannot enter the country, period.

"Nebraskans expect more," Parsons said. "The family members of the victims 
deserve more."

(source: Lincoln Journal Star)

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

Nikko Jenkins timeline


Aug. 11, 2013: Jenkins kills Juan Uribe-Pena and Jorge Cajiga-Ruiz in Omaha's 
Spring Lake Park.

Aug. 19, 2013: Jenkins and his sister, Erica, kill Curtis Bradford near 18th 
and Clark Streets.

Aug. 21, 2013: Jenkins kills Andrea Kruger near 168th and Fort Streets.

Sept. 5, 2013: Jenkins is charged with 4 homicides.

Oct. 1, 2013: Jenkins case is assigned to Judge Peter Bataillon.

Jan. 8, 2014: Bataillon orders Jenkins evaluated for competency.

Feb. 12, 2014: Bataillon holds a competency hearing. Dr. Bruce Gutnik, a 
psychiatrist hired by the defense, says Jenkins is incompetent. A state 
psychiatrist says Jenkins is competent.

Feb. 20, 2014: Bataillon rules Jenkins competent to stand trial.

March 20, 2014: After Jenkins files several motions, Bataillon rules that 
Jenkins can represent himself.

April 18, 2014: Jenkins states his desire to plead no contest to all counts 
against him. In a bizarre hearing, Bataillon first says Jenkins must plead 
guilty to the murders and describe what he did to the victims. The judge then 
changes his mind and allows Jenkins to plead no contest. Bataillon indicates 
that because of the seriousness of the death penalty, he will require Jenkins 
to stop representing himself. The judge reappoints the Douglas County Public 
Defender's Office.

May 6, 2014: Bataillon sets death-penalty hearing for Aug. 11, 2014.

May 7, 2014: Gutnik, the defense psychiatrist, writes report detailing concerns 
about Jenkins' competency. Among other things, Jenkins has mutilated himself.

July 10, 2014: 2nd competency hearing.

July 18, 2014: Bataillon rules that Jenkins is not competent to proceed with 
death-penalty phase.

Feb. 11, 2015: Jenkins files a motion to dismiss his counsel.

Feb. 17, 2015: Jenkins tells court: "I am competent to proceed. I'm not going 
to participate in any more evaluations. It would be a waste of time."

March 2, 2015: Jenkins is declared competent. He tells Bataillon any more 
evaluations by Gutnik would be a "waste of time."

March 24, 2015: Judge sets death penalty hearing for July 7, 2015.

April 2015: Jenkins tries to carve 666 into his forehead but does it backward 
because he is looking in a mirror.

June 10, 2015: Judge delays death-penalty hearing after Legislature rescinds 
capital punishment. "The court continues this matter until further order of the 
court."

June 27, 2015: Jenkins slices his tongue and carves the word "satan" on his 
face.

Aug. 26, 2015: Petition organizers submit far more than enough signatures to 
put the death penalty to a vote of the people in November 2016.

September 2015: Jenkins cuts his penis.

Oct. 5, 2015: Bataillon sets death-penalty hearing for Jan. 4, 2016.

November 2015: Jenkins says he has sliced his penis again and has a total of 65 
stitches on his face and penis.

Dec. 11, 2015: Bataillon orders another competency evaluation. Death penalty 
hearing will be delayed again.

(source: omaha.com)