[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., GA., FLA., MISS.

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 16


TEXAS----impending execution

Family, advocates fight to prevent Reed execution----The family of Rodney Reed, 
family of his victim and a renowned anti-death penalty advocate are uniting, 
hoping for a stay of execution.



With days left before convicted killer Rodney Reed is executed, his family and 
members of the victim's family united Sunday to fight for a stay of execution.

"I'm the brother of Rodney Reed, an innocent man on death row," said Roderick 
Reed, Rodney's brother.

Rodney Reed is scheduled to be executed March 5. The Bastrop man was convicted 
for killing Stacey Stites in 1996. 17 years later, Roderick Reed fights for his 
brother's life.

"There's evidence out there that's never tested," Roderick Reed said. "There 
was witnesses that we're never called. He had lazy lawyers. Look, all I'm 
asking and the message I want to ask is: just give him a fair trial."

Days before Reed is scheduled to be executed, his family is gathering powerful 
supporters.

"In the beginning, I thought we were alone," Roderick Reed said.

Sister Helen Prejean, an anti-death penalty advocate and author of 'Dead Man 
Walking,' The Innocence Project - a group that works to absolve wrongfully 
convicted people, and even certain members of Stites' family are joining the 
Reed family's fight.

"I don't think he did it," said Heather Stobbs, Stites' cousin. "I don't think 
he's guilty."

With growing support, the Reed family filed a writ of Habeas Corpus. They've 
filed requests to do DNA testing on evidence and asked for a stay of execution. 
Reed's lawyers expect answers from the Criminal Court of Appeals within the 
next couple of weeks.

"There will likely be a final opinion," said Quinncy McNeal, Attorney for 
Rodney Reed. "It will move from the Criminal Court of Appeals. "If Mr. Reed 
doesn't get relief there, it will move up to the federal level."

A long time and a lot of effort for one family's only wish.

"I'm asking for justice that's it," Roderick Reed said.

(source: KVUE news)

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

Innocent Man Fights for Reform After 12 Years in Solitary



Anthony Graves was 26 in 1992 when he was arrested for murdering 6 people in 
Somerville, Texas, outside Houston. At his trial, the prosecution presented no 
physical evidence to tie him to the scenes of the crimes, but he was 
nevertheless convicted and sentenced to death.

It wasn't until the key witness in the trial recanted his testimony, weeks 
before Graves was to be executed, that new light was cast on his case. A judge 
later ruled that the prosecutor had withheld evidence and threatened witnesses, 
and ordered that Graves be released.

Graves had already spent 18 years in prison, including a dozen in solitary 
confinment, by the time he regained his freedom in 2010.

Now 49, Graves said the psychological damage of long-term isolation can linger. 
"Solitary confinement is a system designed to break a man's will to live," he 
said. "You're sitting there, in a little cage, day in and day out, year in and 
year out, waiting for the state to execute you or release you." After leaving 
prison he would suddenly burst into tears for no particular reason and had 
difficulty sleeping, though his condition has since improved.

Still, there are things Graves saw and heard all those years that he can't 
forget. "I witnessed men just literally, literally losing their minds," he 
said.

More than 6,500 inmates in Texas live in solitary confinement, according to a 
report published last week by the ACLU of Texas and the Texas Civil Rights 
Project. The figure does not include inmates who are living in solitary on 
death row. On average, prisoners remain in solitary confinement in Texas for 
almost 4 years, with more than 100 prisoners remaining in solitary for more 
than 20 years, the report states.

The conditions in which these inmates live "impose such severe deprivations" 
that they leave prisoners "mentally damaged," and they are more likely to 
commit crimes again once they are released, according to the ACLU report.

"We met with people who were profoundly mentally ill. So mentally ill we didn't 
feel comfortable sharing their stories in this report," said attorney Burke 
Butler, a researcher who helped produce the report.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice holds 4.4 % of its prison population 
in solitary confinement, the report states - about 4 times the national 
average. This is in part because of the sheer size of Texas' prison population, 
Butler said, but also because the state automatically places in isolation 
prisoners believed to have gang ties.

Nearly 1/2 the people in solitary are said to be gang-affiliated. But they are 
often misclassified for reasons as simple as having old gang tattoos, Butler 
said. An array of subjective decisions by prison personnel can also land 
inmates in solitary, such as the 19-year-old Butler spoke to who said his 
confinement was punishment for throwing milk at a guard.

Texas prisoners in solitary typically live in a 60-square-foot cell made of 
concrete. They have a bed and a toilet, both of which often double as tables 
for meals, Butler said. Prisoners can't put anything up on the walls, and if 
they're lucky enough to have a window, it's just narrow strip of glass. They 
are usually allowed 1 hour of recreation time at least a few days a week, but 
they are often denied this reprieve because of understaffing or unwilling 
prison guards, he said.

Graves said he saw inmates on death row slit their own throats. Those that were 
released went back to the outside world "with a lot of baggage," including PTSD 
and hypersensitivity.

"The 1st 3 years I was out ... I couldn't even hold a conversation with people 
without crying," he said.

Repercussions like these have fueled a belief that solitary confinement is 
dangerously overused. Some states have started to limit the practice. In 
Mississippi, solitary is now reserved for prisoners who have attempted escape, 
committed a serious infraction, or are high-level, active gang members. Just 
last month, the 2nd-largest jail in the U.S., New York's Rikers Island, banned 
solitary confinement for anyone under 21. Even Texas prison administrators, 
known for their "severe" solitary standards, have recently agreed to try to 
reduce the number of prisoners in isolation, said Butler.

"If Texas is able to make positive reform, I think it will mean positive reform 
will be possible in other states as well," he said.

The American Psychological Association and American Bar Association say 
mentally ill prisoners shouldn't be in solitary. Pre-existing mental health 
issues can be exacerbated by isolation, experts say, especially when mental 
health services are restricted. Even those who are relatively healthy going in 
often develop psychiatric symptoms including panic attacks, hallucinations, and 
physical outbursts, said Butler.

Mental illness in prisoners isn't just a problem on the inside, though. 95 % of 
all U.S. prisoners will get out one day, according to the Bureau of Justice 
Statistics. In Texas, prisoners released straight from solitary are rearrested 
at a 25 % higher rate than those from the general population, according to the 
ACLU report. One reason is that inmates who emerge from isolation have been 
deprived of "educational, rehabilitative, and religious programming" and have 
lost an ability to interact with other people, the report states.

Correctional officers have begun to speak out about solitary confinement as 
well, and although isolation is often used to curb violence, some say it has 
the opposite effect. In Texas, serious assaults on prison staff have increased 
104 % over the last 7 years, according to 2014 testimony from Lance Lowry, 
president of a Texas Correctional Employees union.

"It is the equivalent of locking a kid in a closet. It's not going to fix a lot 
of problems," said Lowry, according to the ACLU report.

Once prisoners are in solitary, Butler explained, correctional officers have 
little control over them because there are no longer privileges that can be 
taken away.

"When someone's in solitary, they have nothing to lose. Their lives are 
miserable," he said.

Today, Anthony Graves has everything to live for. He's turned his nearly 
2-decade horror story into a career of advocating for change in the criminal 
justice system. He's a seasoned public speaker and writer, and he has created a 
foundation for prison reform. He said he's "much better" than when he was 
released almost 5 years ago, but that most solitary confinement prisoners are 
not so lucky.

"Please don't judge the situation by looking at me," he said. "I'm the 
exception, not the rule."

(source: Yahoo News)








PENNSYLVANIA:

Execution moratorium warranted



It is comforting to conclude that someone who commits a heinous crime deserves 
to die, and it is easy to cite examples. But the government's moral and 
constitutional obligation is not to simple vengeance but to justice, which 
entails far higher standards.

That's why Gov. Tom Wolf is on the mark in declaring a moratorium on executions 
unless and until the Legislature corrects some well-documented flaws in the 
state process.

Pennsylvania today has 186 inmates on death row, all of them convicted of awful 
crimes. But the state's record regarding the death penalty is a dismal one.

Since the Legislature reinstated the death penalty nearly 40 years ago, the 
state has executed 3 people, all of whom had forfeited their appeal rights, 
even though governors have signed 434 death warrants. Over the same period, 
twice as many death row inmates - 6 - have been exonerated. As noted by Mr. 
Wolf, 1 of those men had two death warrants signed against him, meaning that 
the commonwealth came close to executing an innocent man. A 2nd man was 
exonerated by DNA evidence 21 years after entering death row.

Beyond the fact that the state had put innocent people in line for the 
execution chamber, there are multiple other reasons that the moratorium is 
sound.

In 2003 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Committee on Racial and Gender Bias 
found "strong indications that Pennsylvania's capital system does not operate 
in an evenhanded manner." At that time, more than two-thirds of death-row 
inmates were members of racial minorities even though the state minority 
population was just 11 %. The committee found that minority defendants were 
sentenced to death at a far higher rate than white defendants who had been 
convicted of similar crimes.

4 years later, an American Bar Association assessment team found substantial 
inadequacies in the state's system, including inadequate funding for public 
defenders and even fewer resources for the defense of indigent defendants in 
capital cases.

Now, another assessment of the state's death penalty process is under way due 
to a commendable bipartisan state Senate resolution passed in 2011. Mr. Wolf 
said his moratorium will hold at least until that report is issued.

The question isn't simply whether some inmates deserve to die for their crimes. 
It's whether the state can fairly administer justice in death penalty cases. As 
long as that is an open question, as it is today, it is folly to conduct 
executions.

(source: Editorial Board of the Times-Tribune)

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

Hugo Selenski: 'I'm not afraid to die'



Convicted killer Hugo Marcus Selenski isn't afraid of death or having a needle 
put into his arm.

Selenski, now 41, said those words during a jailhouse interview when he was 
housed at the State Correctional Institution at Dallas on June 2, 2004. 
Selenski's words may come back to haunt him. The same Luzerne County jury that 
convicted him last week of the flex-tie strangulation murders of Michael Jason 
Kerkowski and Tammy Lynn Fassett will be asked to sentence him to death or life 
in prison.

The penalty phase, scheduled to begin Tuesday morning, can be an emotional 
proceeding. Like a mini-trial, it involves testimony from family and victims.

Assistant district attorneys Sam Sanguedolce, Mamie Phillips and Jarrett 
Ferentino are seeking death for Selenski under 4 aggravating factors.

First, the homicides of Kerkowski and Fassett were committed during the 
perpetration of another felony: robbery. The other elements are torture and 2 
factors related to other deaths.

Prosecutors added torture as an aggravating factor after Paul Weakley, a former 
Selenski associate, detailed how Kerkowski was bound to a chair, blinded, and 
beaten with a rolling pin as flex ties were repeatedly tightened around his 
neck in an attempt to force him to reveal where he had hidden cash.

When deciding to impose a sentence of death or life in prison, jurors will be 
asked to weigh the aggravating factors - those which make a crime more heinous 
- against mitigating factors, or those which lessen a defendant's culpability.

Previous cases offer examples of how that can work.

Death penalty trials

Since 1985, Luzerne County prosecutors have tried 11 death penalty cases, 
securing death sentences in 3, including 1 that actually had been tried 
earlier.

-- Tyrone Moore was convicted in 1983 for the deadly shooting of Nicholas 
Romanchick, 31, during an October 1982 robbery at the Forty Fort Animal 
Hospital. Moore was not sentenced until 1988, after post-trial appeals were 
completed.

His death sentence was overturned by then-county judge Mark Ciavarella in 2000, 
stating that Moore's previous attorneys failed to introduce evidence at 
sentencing that would have shown his childhood was full of "constant trauma, 
fear and terror," and might have influenced his sentence. Such evidence may be 
offered as mitigating factors during penalty hearings.

-- Brian Smith was convicted in September 1991 of the beating death of 
5-month-old Ryan Leahy, son of Smith's live-in girlfriend, Dawn Madashefski. 
The Hazleton man was babysitting when he repeatedly hit the infant to get him 
to stop crying.

Smith was formally sentenced to death on April 16, 1992, according to the Times 
Leader archives. The state Supreme Court overturned the penalty in 1996, ruling 
that Smith's public defender, Patrick Flannery, was ineffective because he 
failed to introduce evidence of Smith's mental health problems during the 
penalty phase of his trial.

County prosecutors in 1998 dropped their attempt to re-sentence Smith to death 
after reports showed the former Hazleton man is mentally ill. That meant Smith 
will serve a mandatory life sentence without possibility of parole.

-- Michael Bardo was convicted in 1993 of killing his 3-year-old niece. Bardo 
was recently granted a new sentencing hearing by the state Supreme Court.

In a December ruling, the state Supreme Court effectively upheld a 2012 order 
of then-Luzerne County Senior Judge Patrick Toole to vacate the death sentence 
because Bardo's attorneys did not present a wealth of mitigating evidence at 
Bardo's penalty phase hearing.

Because the high court was split 3-3, Toole's decision stands as a matter of 
law.

Selenski's history

At the time of the 1-hour jailhouse interview nearly 11 years ago, Selenski 
faced charges he killed Frank James and Adeiye Keiler with a shotgun and burned 
their bodies outside the Kingston Township residence where he lived in May 
2003.

He had not been charged with the murders of Kerkowski and Fassett when he was 
interviewed. Those charges were filed in May 2006, soon after a jury found 
Selenski not guilty in the killing of Keiler. A mistrial was ruled for James.

Selenski had also escaped from the county correctional facility by climbing 
down 15-tied together bedsheets and scaling a barbed wire fence on Oct. 10, 
2003, 4 days after he was charged with the killings of James and Keiler. He 
surrendered from the Kingston Township residence 3 days later.

Not afraid

During the interview, Selenski was vocal about the escape, then District 
Attorney David W. Lupas and Weakley. He strayed away from discussing specifics 
about the charges against him.

While discussing his experience in prisons - Selenski had served a 7 year stint 
in federal prison for a bank robbery - and witnessing riots, he said he wasn't 
"afraid of facing death" and "having a needle put into his arm."

Selenski said he knew he was going to escape from the county correctional 
facility, but waited until he was charged with criminal homicide.

As he challenged Weakley's credibility of telling the truth during the separate 
trials, Selenski called Weakley a liar during the interview, saying what 
Weakley told investigators sounded like a "Stephen King novel."

Selenski said the bodies of Kerkowski and Fassett "were put there for reason" 
and believed he was "going to beat this case."

"The whole case, I'm not really concerned about it," Selenski said in the 2004 
interview.

He said there were other people more involved than himself and offered to "shed 
light on this whole thing."

"I'm not claiming I wasn't involved but there are other people more involved," 
Selenski said in the jailhouse interview.

Notes of the jailhouse interview were subpoenaed by the district attorney's 
office on Feb. 14, 2005.

(source: Times Leader)








GEORGIA:

High court upholds death sentence in Lumpkin Co. murder case



The Georgia Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence given to Steven 
Frederick Spears in Lumpkin County for strangling to death his former 
girlfriend nearly 14 years ago.

Sherri Holland was found dead, padlocked in the bedroom of her home on August 
26, 2001. She had been strangled to death, according to an autopsy.

Spears was found several days later by police, walking down Highway 52 at the 
Lumpkin-Hall County line. At the time, authorities said he confessed to the 
murder, saying he had developed four different plans for killing Holland.

Spears was found guilty and sentenced to death in March 2007. His attorneys 
argued before the high court that the trial court made errors in the case, but 
the justices disagreed and the murder conviction and death sentence stand.

The Supreme Court of Georgia handed down its decision Monday morning.

The following information was issued Monday on the Spears case:

In today's unanimous opinion, Justice Keith Blackwell writes for the court that 
the evidence presented at trial "was sufficient to authorize a rational trier 
of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Spears was guilty of the crimes 
of which he was convicted."

At the same time, the high court has thrown out the trial court's decision to 
merge the 2 burglary counts into 1 for sentencing purposes, finding that the 2 
charges related to 2 separate crimes, not just one. It is sending that issue 
back to the trial court with directions to enter a sentence on the burglary 
count for which Spears has not yet been sentenced.

According to the facts of the case, Spears and Holland had dated but their 
romantic relationship had ended when, on Aug. 24, 2001, Holland's 13-year-old 
son left her home to spend the weekend with his father. Her family members 
became concerned, however, when she failed to pick up her son as expected at 
the end of his stay. On Aug. 26, after trying several times to reach her by 
telephone, Holland's ex-husband and son drove to her house. When they didn't 
see her car, they left, wondering if she was just running late. Eventually, her 
ex-husband called police. When officers entered Holland's home, they detected a 
strong odor of decaying flesh coming from the master bedroom, which was locked 
with a padlock. After removing the door hinges, police found Holland's 
decomposing body lying face down on the floor with her head on a pillow. A 
black garbage bag was secured around her head with duct tape. Duct tape also 
covered her mouth and was wrapped around her face, hands and feet. Items were 
scattered about the bedroom, indicating there had been a struggle. The room was 
very hot, as the air conditioner had been set at 85 degrees.

The medical examiner testified Holland died from asphyxia consistent with 
having been strangled. She also had a hemorrhage on the surface of her skull, 
suggesting she'd been struck with a fist, and she had numerous abrasions on her 
knee and chin consistent with a struggle. The medical examiner testified that 
the plastic garbage bag and duct tape across her mouth may have cut off oxygen 
and contributed to her death. Following the discovery of her body, police 
issued an alert for her missing 2001 red Camaro with black stripes, which was 
found two days later at Belton Bridge Park in Hall County, about 25 miles from 
her home. Inside was a K-Mart receipt showing that a fishing license, red spray 
paint, a ball cap and fishing gear had been purchased in Cornelia, GA the 
morning of Aug. 25. An investigation revealed that Spears had purchased the 
items.

On Sept. 5, 2001, a Lumpkin County officer found a disheveled Spears walking 
down Highway 52 near the county line. The officer later testified the man 
matched the description of the man wanted for Holland's murder, so he stopped 
and arrested him. The officer did not read him his Miranda rights before 
transporting him back to the Sheriff's Office, but en route Spears made several 
statements, telling the officer he knew a warrant had probably been issued for 
his arrest and he was walking to a nearby store to call police so he could turn 
himself in. He said he'd been living in the woods the past 10 days in a deer 
stand in Lula, GA, and he believed police officers dressed in camouflage had 
chased him through the woods.

At the Lumpkin County Sheriff's Office, Spears was read his Miranda rights, but 
he waived them and confessed he had murdered Holland. He said they had dated 
about 3 years and broken up several months earlier. He said he thought she was 
seeing someone else and he had once threatened her, "if I caught her or found 
out she was screwin' somebody else, I'd choke her ass to death."

Spears confessed he had developed four separate plans for murdering Holland. 
One involved electrocuting her while she was in the shower. Spears explained 
that he went under the crawl space, placed screws in the shower's pipes, and 
planned to connect them to the home's circuit breaker. The second plan involved 
beating her with a homemade bat he'd carved from a tree and hidden in a canoe 
at her home. The 3rd involved shooting her with her shotgun, which he'd 
secretly loaded the Friday night before the murder. And the 4th plan, the one 
he actually followed, was to strangle her. He said the night before he murdered 
Holland, he broke into her home through a vent area in the basement crawl 
space, then hid in her son's bedroom closet and waited more than 4 hours for 
her to return home and fall asleep. At about 2:30 a.m., he went into her 
bedroom and told her to roll over. A struggle ensued into the hallway where he 
strangled her for 5 to 10 minutes. He said that before Holland lost 
consciousness, she told him she loved him; he told her he loved her, then 
"choked her out." He then dragged her back into the bedroom, taped her hands, 
feet and mouth, secured the garbage bag over her head with duct tape, and put 
her head on a pillow. He said he stole her car, purse and money, then drove to 
Cornelia where he bought supplies, including red spray paint to cover the 
distinctive black stripes of her Camaro. At one point, after realizing he had 
forgotten to take her cigarette case, knowing that's where she kept her money, 
he returned to her house and retrieved it. He said he eventually abandoned the 
car at Belton Bridge Park because he feared it was equipped with an anti-theft 
device. At the end of his confession, Spears stated to police that, "if I had 
to do it again, I'd do it."

Spears was indicted for murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping with bodily 
injury and 2 counts of burglary. The State announced it would seek the death 
penalty. In March 2007, a jury found Spears guilty as charged. After finding 
the existence of 2 aggravating circumstances, the jury recommended the death 
sentence, which is what the judge ordered. The trial court later denied Spears' 
motion requesting a new trial, but it set aside his kidnapping conviction, as 
well as the aggravating circumstance involving kidnapping.

In their appeal before the state Supreme Court, Spears' attorneys argued the 
trial court made 11 errors. But in today's 40-page opinion, the high court has 
refused to grant a new trial based on any of them. However, the high court has 
determined on its own that the trial court erroneously merged the 2 convictions 
for burglary - one that was based on the intent to commit murder and one that 
was based on the intent to commit a theft.

Monday's opinion points out the evidence shows that Spears made his initial 
entry into Holland's house with the dual intent to commit a theft and murder. 
But he then left the house and later returned and entered the house a 2nd time 
to steal her cigarette case and money. The opinion states the trial court erred 
by merging the burglary counts in its sentencing order, the erroneous merger 
must be vacated, and the trial court is directed to enter a sentence on the 2nd 
of those burglary counts.

In Monday's opinion, the state Supreme Court also addresses Spears' claim that 
the prosecutor made improper statements at the conclusion of the sentencing 
phase. Regarding one, the Supreme Court finds the prosecutor improperly 
personalized the sentencing question before the jury by arguing, "If he ever 
escaped, it could be you." However, Spears' attorney did not object at trial, 
and he is prohibited from arguing for the 1st time on appeal that the 
prosecutor's statement contributed to his conviction. Nevertheless, the high 
court concludes that the absence of the prosecutor's improper statement "would 
not in reasonable probability have changed the jury's sentencing verdict." The 
high court also finds that the prosecutor's reference to Spears as a "rabid 
animal" was "unnecessary and undesirable." Again, Spears' attorney did not 
object and even if he had, it would not be grounds for reversal, the opinion 
says. "Although we have characterized arguments using metaphors for a defendant 
such as ???animal??? and 'snake' as 'unnecessary and undesirable,' we have held 
that allowing them is not reversible error."

(source: accessnorthga.com)








FLORIDA:

State attorney to seek death penalty in 13-year old case



A central Florida state attorney has filed notice that his office will seek the 
death penalty in a 13-year-old murder case.

Ninth District State Attorney Jeff Ashton's office filed a notice of intent on 
Friday in the case of Demorris Andy Hunter. Hunter is charged with 1st-degree 
murder in the death of Teresa Ann Green. Green was reported missed from her 
Orlando home on May 27, 2002, and found dead that evening in the trunk of her 
car.

Hunter is currently serving a life sentence in a March 2002 death of an 
Oakland, California woman. He was extradited from a California prison last week 
to Orange County.

No future court date has been set.

(source: St. Augustine Record)








MISSISSIPPI:

Miss. House passes bill mandating execution secrecy----Names of executioner, 
helpers would be exempt from public disclosure



Mississippi lawmakers would not only make details surrounding state executions 
secret, but allow anyone who discloses details to be sued for money.

House Bill 1305, sponsored by Democrat Kimberly Campbell of Jackson, would 
provide that the names of the executioner and any helpers would be exempt from 
public disclosure, as well as the identity of the supplier of execution drugs.

The House passed the bill 82-34, sending it to the Senate for more work.

Opponents of the death penalty have been trying to limit states' ability to 
execute by finding out the names of drug suppliers and pressuring them.

Last year, lawyers challenged the use of drugs from a compounding pharmacy in 
Grenada. Nationwide, concerns have been raised about botched executions because 
of novel drug combinations.

(source: WAPT news)