[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MD., MONT., WASH., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 2



MARYLAND:

Maryland governor commutes sentences of last 4 men on death row



(The following is a Dec. 31 statement issued by the Maryland Catholic 
Conference, the legislative arm of the state's Catholic bishops.)

"Today's announcement that Governor O'Malley will commute the sentences of 
Maryland's death row inmates is a welcome conclusion to the long journey toward 
ending capital punishment in Maryland. We commend all those who have worked so 
hard for repeal - Maryland Citizens against State Executions, our partners in 
the faith community, Governor O'Malley and leaders in the General Assembly, and 
most especially the numerous victims' family members who worked so courageously 
and passionately on this issue. At the very least these commutations will put 
to an end the lengthy and heart-rending appeals process in these remaining 
cases, and we pray that fact brings some healing and peace to the families of 
their victims."

Maryland's outgoing Gov. Martin O'Malley announced Dec. 31 he would commute the 
death sentences of the last 4 inmates on the state's death row to life 
imprisonment without possibility of parole.

In 2013, Maryland's General Assembly repealed capital punishment, but that did 
not affect the sentences of what at the time were 5 inmates on death row. One 
of those inmates, John Booth-El, died of natural causes earlier in 2014.

The state's last execution was in 2005.

The action was lauded by the Maryland Catholic Conference, which has long 
advocated for the end of capital punishment.

O'Malley, a Catholic whose second term as governor ends Jan. 21, said in a 
statement that recent appeals and an opinion by outgoing Maryland Attorney 
General Doug Gansler have called into question the legality of carrying out 
those earlier death sentences.

"I have now met or spoken with many of the survivors of the victims of these 
brutal murders," said O'Malley's statement. "They are all good and decent 
people who have generously granted me the courtesy of discussing the cases of 
their individual family members."

He said they "have borne their grief bravely along with the additional torment 
of an unending legal process. If endless death penalty appeals were to 
continue, these family members would, no doubt, persevere through that process 
with continued courage and fortitude."

O'Malley added that the question at hand is "whether any public good is served 
by allowing these essentially unexecutable sentences to stand. In my judgment, 
leaving these death sentences in place does not serve the public good of the 
people of Maryland - present or future."

Leaving the sentences in place would, he added, "needlessly and callously 
subject survivors, and the people of Maryland, to the ordeal of an endless 
appeals process, with unpredictable twists and turns, and without any hope of 
finality or closure."

He said "there is 1 truth that stands between and before all of us ... few of 
us would ever wish for our children or grandchildren to kill another human 
being or to take part in the killing of another human being."

O'Malley added that he hopes the commutations "might bring about a greater 
degree of closure for all of the survivors and their families."

Mary Ellen Russell of the Maryland Catholic Conference told Catholic News 
Service that O'Malley's announcement was not unexpected after Gansler's 
November opinion said that, under current law, there was no way to issue 
regulations for how to execute the remaining inmates.

"It's a wonderful way to start the new year," she said, adding that it brings 
an end to "a lengthy and heart-rending" process of reviewing and ending capital 
punishment in the state.

Instead, Russell said, the Catholic Conference and others interested in the 
workings of the criminal justice system can now focus on other issues, 
specifically restorative justice.

Russell said it seems unlikely that incoming Gov. Larry Hogan, who also is 
Catholic, would press to reinstate the death penalty, and "there's clearly no 
appetite for it in the General Assembly." O'Malley is a Democrat and Hogan a 
Republican.

O'Malley's 2 immediate predecessors each authorized 2 executions. In 2002, Gov. 
Parris Glendening ordered a moratorium while a study of capital punishment was 
conducted. It found racial and geographic disparities in how the state applied 
capital punishment.

His successor, Gov. Robert Ehrlich, reinstated capital punishment and resumed 
executions, authorizing 1 in 2004 and 1 in 2005. In 2006 a state Appeals Court 
ordered the suspension of executions because of legal problems with the 
protocol for lethal injection.

(source: Catholic Standard)








MONTANA:

Lawmakers to grapple with life and death issues in 2015



Every 2 years issues involving life and death take center stage at some point 
during Montana's 90-day legislative session.

The Montana Legislature begins its 64th biennial session on Monday, and soon 
committee rooms will again fill up with opponents and proponents delivering 
dramatic, passionate and sometimes tearful testimony on bills ranging from 
abortion to the death penalty to physician-assisted suicide.

Here's a look at some of the beginning- and end-of-life issues lawmakers will 
grapple with over the next 5 months.

Death penalty

Montana is among 32 states that has the death penalty, but over the 2 sessions 
opponents have inched closer to abolishing the practice.

In 2009 and 2011, measures to abolish the death penalty and replace it with a 
sentence of life in prison without the possibility for parole passed the 
Republican-controlled Senate before dying in the House.

In 2013, a nearly identical Republican-backed measure died in the House 
Judiciary Committee.

Already, 2 Senate lawmakers have requested legislation for the 2015 session to 
end the death penalty.

Opposition to the death penalty has drawn a diverse coalition of unlikely 
political bedfellows with some conservatives now coming on board.

The Montana Abolition Coalition is a bipartisan group of advocacy organizations 
from across the political spectrum working together to end the death penalty in 
Montana.

"We are cautiously optimistic," said Niki Zupanic, public policy director for 
American Civil Liberties Union of Montana.

ACLU Montana is among 11 organizations that make up the Montana Abolition 
Coalition. Many of those groups, including the Montana Human Rights Network, 
the Montana Catholic Conference, ACLU Montana and the Montana Association of 
Churches are often at odds on social policy issues such as abortion, 
physician-assisted suicide and nondiscrimination measures. But when it comes to 
the death penalty, they find common ground.

"We know we're getting closer on that issue. Whether or not this is the session 
where it happens, we're certainly hopeful on that," said Matt Brower of the 
Montana Catholic Conference.

Increasingly conservative lawmakers are adding their voice of opposition to the 
death penalty because of mistakes in the judicial system and the high cost 
associated with executing prisoners.

"More and more legislators are coming to the opinion that the death penalty in 
Montana is a broken system that can't be fixed," Zupanic said. "These 
legislators come to this position from a wide variety of backgrounds."

Brower said the bipartisan nature of the opposition is encouraging.

"It's energizing to be able to come together and recognize we're trying to push 
this in a same direction," Brower said. "It's a very hopeful experience when 
you get to collaborate with those you don't always agree with."

(source: Great Falls Tribune)








WASHINGTON:

Jury selection winding up for trial of accused cop killer Monfort----A jury is 
expected to be chosen next week to hear the death-penalty case against 
Christopher Monfort, the accused gunman in the Oct. 31, 2009, shooting death of 
Seattle police Officer Tim Brenton. The trial against Monfort will likely take 
6 months.



Jury selection will enter its final stage next week in the death-penalty case 
against Christopher Monfort, who is accused of ambushing a pair of Seattle 
police officers in their patrol car on Halloween night 2009, killing a veteran 
officer and wounding his rookie partner.

The shooting that killed Officer Tim Brenton and injured Officer Britt Sweeney 
shocked the city and set police on edge for more than a week before Monfort was 
critically injured in a confrontation outside his Tukwila apartment with 
detectives investigating Brenton's death.

Monfort was paralyzed after he was shot in the face and stomach, and his health 
has deteriorated over the past 5 years, contributing to the length of time it's 
taken to get the case to trial.

Even so, the case seems especially relevant considering its eerie similarity to 
the Dec. 20 ambush killings of 2 New York City police officers shot while 
sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn.

Monfort railed against police brutality and threatened even more police deaths 
in the weeks before Brenton was killed, according to prosecutors.

The voluminous court file in the case also documents the ongoing legal battle 
over Monfort's mental health, as well as his defense team's repeated efforts to 
have the death penalty thrown out.

They briefly succeeded in February 2013, but after prosecutors appealed, the 
trial judge's ruling was overturned by the state Supreme Court, which 
reinstated the option of the death penalty.

Monfort has pleaded not guilty to 5 felony charges, including aggravated 
1st-degree murder, and his attorneys have said their 46-year-old client intends 
to assert an insanity defense.

Monfort's state of mind during a 2-week stretch in fall 2009 when he is accused 
of firebombing police vehicles, fatally shooting Brenton and attempting to 
shoot a detective outside his Tukwila apartment is expected to be a hotly 
contested issue at trial.

Next week, 85 potential jurors - out of an original pool of 1,170 - will 
undergo general voir dire questioning before a final jury is selected. Opening 
statements are expected Jan. 20.

Getting to this stage in jury selection has been something of a marathon, 
largely due to Monfort's health issues. A police bullet paralyzed Monfort from 
the waist down, and he can only sit in his wheelchair for 2 hours at a time, 
interspersed by t2-hour breaks, court records show.

His need for frequent breaks led King County Superior Court Judge Ronald 
Kessler to accelerate individual questioning of prospective jurors beginning in 
early November and ending in Dec. 17. Over objections from both sides, Kessler 
scheduled 3 2-hour sessions with individual jurors until 6:30 p.m. 4 days a 
week, with additional sessions Friday mornings, court records show.

Had Kessler stuck to the old schedule of interviewing prospective jurors for 2 
hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon, testimony would not have 
begun until April and the trial would likely have stretched into next fall, 
according to the judge's scheduling order.

As it is, Monfort's trial is expected to take 6 months, with testimony from 254 
possible witnesses. If he is convicted of aggravated murder, jurors will hear 
additional testimony and evidence during a "penalty phase" before deciding if 
Monfort should be sentenced to death or life in prison without the possibility 
of release.

Kessler also denied requests from both sides to postpone opening statements 
until March since the jury pool had already been told openings would happen in 
January, according to the court records.

The capital trial technically started in August, when Kessler began hearing a 
slew of pretrial motions, including eight filed by the defense seeking to 
strike the death penalty from consideration for a variety of reasons. One of 
their motions argued that Monfort, who is mixed race but identifies as black, 
is 82 % more likely to receive a death sentence because his alleged victim was 
white.

The motions were denied.

Brenton's position as a police officer is the aggravating circumstance that 
allowed the state to charge Monfort with aggravated first-degree murder, the 
only crime for which death is a possible punishment. Monfort is also charged 
with attempted 1st-degree murder for shooting Sweeney, who suffered graze 
wounds when she ducked the bullets that killed Brenton, according to charging 
papers.

Sweeney was able to exit the car, return fire at the fleeing vehicle, then call 
for help on her police radio.

Monfort also is accused of firebombing police vehicles at a city maintenance 
yard about a week before Brenton was killed, in apparent retaliation for 
alleged incidents of police brutality. He is charged with 1st-degree arson in 
the Oct. 22, 2009, explosions, as well as attempted 1st-degree murder for 
allegedly trying to kill officers responding to the firebombing scene, the 
charges say.

In addition, Monfort is charged with a 3rd count of attempted 1st-degree 
murder: On Nov. 6, 2009, the day of Brenton's memorial service, a citizen's tip 
about 1 of Monfort's cars, a Datsun 210, led detectives to Monfort's Tukwila 
apartment building. He is accused of trying to shoot Seattle police Sgt. Gary 
Nelson, but he had failed to chamber a round and his gun did not fire, 
according to the charges.

After Nelson and two other officers heard "the distinctive sound" of Monfort 
cycling a round into the chamber, then saw Monfort run toward his apartment 
while pointing his gun at them, each officer fired 2 quick shots - and Monfort 
collapsed unconscious on the breezeway near his apartment door, the charges 
say.

An arsenal of firearms, ammunition and explosives were later found inside 
Monfort's apartment, including the assault rifle used to kill Brenton, 
according to court records. Detectives also found a flier identical to ones 
left at the maintenance yard, referencing 2 King County sheriff's deputies who 
were accused of beating a teenage girl in a holding cell.

The fliers concluded: "Start policing each other or get ready to attend a lot 
of police funerals."

Monfort has undergone psychological evaluations by experts for the state and 
defense, and while the experts' reportsare not part of the public docket,other 
court records provide hints into their contents.

For instance, an August filing by the state notes that the report by defense 
expert, Dr. Mark Cunningham, opines that Monfort was insane in fall 2009.

It quotes Cunningham's report, in which he said Monfort "was suffering from a 
Delusional Disorder, which led him to believe that killing police officers was 
morally and legally proper."

Other court records reference a statement Monfort made to Cunningham after 
finding out that Cunningham determined he was mentally ill.

(source: Seattle Times)








USA:

Death penalty for Tsarnaev? Why Bostonians don't favor that possibility. Boston 
Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is charged with one of the worst 
acts of domestic terrorism in US history, yet in the city where the bombings 
occurred, a unique mix of factors means that most residents don't want to put 
him to death.

Nearly 2 years after 2 bombs upended the Boston Marathon, sending 
reverberations of grief and fear throughout the city, accused bomber Dzhokhar 
Tsarnaev is scheduled to face a jury of his peers and answer to 30 federal 
charges.

To many Americans, the bombings represented not just an attack on one city, but 
a broader assault on the nation and its values. And a nationwide poll done by 
The Washington Post and ABC News soon after the attacks found that Americans 
overwhelmingly supported the death penalty being an option in the case against 
Mr. Tsarnaev.

The following January, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that federal 
prosecutors would indeed seek the death penalty.

Although such a request is not unusual in terrorism cases, it is highly unusual 
in Massachusetts, where no prisoner has been put to death in more than 60 
years.

And Bostonians, it seems, are not so eager to make an exception in the Tsarnaev 
case. According to a Boston Globe poll conducted in September 2013, 1/3 of city 
residents supported the death penalty in the case, while more than of the 
respondents said they would prefer a sentence of life without parole.

How has Boston come to view the death penalty differently from the rest of the 
nation - even in the event of a terrorist attack in the city? Experts cite 
political and religious currents, as well as the long history of choosing 
another way.

"Massachusetts as a commonwealth has a basic commitment to civic virtues, to 
decency. These are deep, deep, deep in our soil," says the Rev. Nancy Taylor, 
senior minister at Boston's historic Old South Church, which stands next to the 
marathon's finish line. "The death penalty kind of defiles the best of what it 
is to be virtuous in a civic sense. It kind of starts to wreck the equation."

The Tsarnaev trial is scheduled to begin in Boston on Jan. 5, after a judge on 
New Year's Eve ruled against motions by the defense to delay the start of the 
trial and move it outside of Boston.

Boston is one of the most liberal cities in the United States, with Democrats 
outnumbering Republicans by more than 3 to 1. Traditionally, liberal Democrats 
have been much more likely to oppose the death penalty than their more 
conservative Republican counterparts.

In addition, nearly half of state residents identify as Roman Catholic, making 
Massachusetts the most Catholic state in the nation. Although Bay Staters do 
not attend church at the level seen in other parts of the country, religion 
plays a key role in how individuals shape their values.

"There is certainly religion constantly in the background," Ms. Taylor says. 
She points to the biblical commandment "Thou shalt not kill" as a religious 
principle that has become a central tenet of secular society.

Beyond such moral objections, many area residents question the efficacy of the 
death penalty as a punishment.

"I just think that's kind of the easy way out," says Hannah Braunstein, a 
kindergarten teacher in Waltham who ran in the 2013 marathon and had to stop 
less than a mile from the finish line because of the blasts. "I think it's very 
important that he literally wastes his life away."

There are, of course, those in Boston who see capital punishment as warranted 
in this instance.

"I think in some cases the death penalty is acceptable," says Briana Paparozzi, 
a graphic design student at Boston University. She has a hard time defining 
exactly where the line lies, but says that the large number of people affected 
by the bombings and the apparent motive of terrorizing a city make her ready to 
condone execution in this case.

Christopher Dearborn, an associate law professor at Suffolk University in 
Boston, explains why Americans overall are supportive of the death penalty in 
the Tsarnaev trial.

"We're talking about people dying in domestic terrorism," Professor Dearborn 
says. "It doesn't get any more serious in the eyes of the general public."

No one has been executed in Massachusetts since 1947, and the state formally 
abolished the death penalty in 1984. However, the Tsarnaev case falls under 
federal jurisdiction, thus opening the door to the death penalty.

Since 1984, there have been numerous attempts to reinstate capital punishment 
at the state level in Massachusetts. It came the closest to doing so in 1997, 
following the disturbing murder of 10-year-old Jeffrey Curley. A bill that 
would have brought back the death penalty failed to pass by 1 vote.

The boy's father, Robert Curley, supported the bill but later changed his 
position because of what he saw as systemic biases in the legal system 
penalizing poor and minority offenders.

In a Monitor interview, Mr. Curley talked about the possibility of the death 
penalty in the Tsarnaev case. It would be "better to just give him life without 
parole and forget about it," he said, instead of going through a lengthy 
appeals process in the event of a death sentence.

(source: Christian Science Monitor)