[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.Y., MD., N.C., GA., FLA.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 3



TEXAS:

Executions under Rick Perry, 2001-present-----279

Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982-present----518

Perry #--------scheduled execution date-----name---------Tx. #

280------------Jan. 15------------------Richard Vasquez-------519

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

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

Executions under Greg Abbott, 2015-present

Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982----present

Abbott#--------scheduled execution date-----name------------Tx. #

1------------Jan. 21-------------------Arnold Prieto--------520

2------------Jan. 28-------------------Garcia White---------521

3------------Jan. 29-------------------Robert Ladd----------522

4------------Feb. 4--------------------Donald Newbury-----523

5------------Feb. 10-------------------Les Bower, Jr.-------524

6------------Mar. 5--------------------Rodney Reed---------525

7------------Mar. 11-------------------Manuel Vasquez-----526

8------------Mar. 18-------------------Randall Mays---------527

9------------Apr. 9--------------------Kent Sprouse----------528

10-----------Apr. 15-------------------Manual Garza---------529

11-----------Apr. 28-------------------Robert Pruett----------530

12-----------May 12--------------------Derrick Charles------531

(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)








NEW YORK:

Mario Cuomo a Rare Voice Against the Death Penalty in Tough on Crime Era----As 
Republicans and many Democrats rallied behind capital punishment, Cuomo never 
wavered in abolitionist views.



Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo opposed the death penalty at a time when it 
was favored by 3/4 of Americans.

The progressive legacy of former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, who died Thursday 
at the age of 82, spans many milestones, from calling out President Ronald 
Reagan's "City on a Hill" to expanding health care. His consistent opposition 
to the death penalty was especially notable, given the tough-on-crime rhetoric 
that reigned during much of his career. Over the course of his governorship, he 
vetoed 12 bills that would have reinstated the death penalty in the state - 1 
for every year he was in office.

"The death penalty legitimizes the ultimate act of vengeance in the name of the 
state, violates fundamental human rights, fuels a mistaken belief by some that 
justice is being served and demeans those who strive to preserve human life and 
dignity," Cuomo said when vetoing one such proposal in 1991.

At the time, the death penalty was wildly popular, both with politicians and 
with the public - for much of the 1980s and and early 1990s, more than 3/4 of 
Americans favored it. Some blamed Cuomo's defeat to fellow democrat Ed Koch in 
the 1977 mayoral run-off on Cuomo's opposition to capital punishment. However, 
once he won the New York governorship in 1982, Cuomo never backed away from his 
abolitionist views, even refusing to extradite convicted murderer Thomas 
Grasso, who was being incarcerated in the state, to Oklahoma, where Grasso had 
been sentenced to death.

Meanwhile, the use of the capital punishment expanded across the country after 
the Supreme Court reversed a previous ruling that had suspended it and allowed 
Georgia execute a convicted murder in 1976. With new guidelines being set by 
the court, states reinstated the death penalty, many using lethal injection for 
the 1st time. During his 1992 presidential campaign, then-Arkansas Gov. Bill 
Clinton returned to his home state to oversee the execution of a convicted 
murderer who was believed to be severely brain injured from when he tried to 
shoot himself. By 1994, Congress had passed a bill that added more than 40 
federal offenses that could be punished by death penalty, including kidnappings 
that result in death, drive-by shootings that result in death, sexual abuses 
that result in death and certain drug-related crimes.

A Roman Catholic, Cuomo's stance was moral one, but he often backed up his 
opposition to the death penalty by citing criminologists who said it didn't 
deter crime.

"As a deterrent, the death penalty is surprisingly ineffective," he wrote in 
his 1996 book "Reason to Believe." "No persuasive evidence exists that official 
state killing will make our citizens, or even our police officers, safer. There 
is, in fact, evidence to the contrary."

He argued that crime was best prevented by bulking up other elements of the 
criminal justice system and as governor he expanded the state's prison system 
at a record rate. Nevertheless, his opposition to capital punishment made him a 
high-profile target for politicians seeking to gin up public support for being 
tough on crime.

Violent drug-related murders or police shootings would revive the the 
criticisms. "Any bad crime that would come along that would get attention from 
the media and public outrage ... the death penalty was brought up because New 
York didn't have it," says Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death 
Penalty Information Center.

Once Pataki defeated Cuomo, he made good on both promises. However Cuomo 
continued to cite Grasso, who was eventually executed, in his arguments against 
capital punishment, as Grasso said he would rather be executed than serve a 
life sentence.

Cuomo continued to lobby against state-sanctioned execution in speeches, op-eds 
and other public statements, as the death penalty fell out of favor in many 
states. 5 states have abolished the death penalty in recent years, bringing the 
total of states without it to 18 (plus the District of Columbia, and only 
handful of states execute people regularly. Seven of the 32 states where the 
death penalty is still legal conducted executions in 2014. Even in those 
states, use of capital punishment is trending down, with sentences being given 
out less frequently. Last year marked a 20 year low in executions.

The death penalty's decline is more about pragmatics than principle, Dieter 
says, as sentences have become harder to obtain, more expensive to implement 
and more complicated to carry out (a recent shortage of the drug used in many 
lethal injections has forced states to experiment with temperamental cocktails 
of chemicals). Yet crime rates also continue to sink, as if to prove Cuomo???s 
point that death is not necessarily deterrent.

"In a way, Governor Cuomo was prophetic in being resistant to the death penalty 
- that it was not the way, it was not the solution," Dieter says.

(source: US News & World Report)








MARYLAND:

WashPost Hails 'Practicing Catholic' O'Malley's Death Row Commutations



Prospective 2016 Democratic presidential contender Gov. Martin O'Malley decided 
to close out 2014 with an announcement that he would be commuting the death 
sentences of 4 Maryland death-row inmates who were in a virtual state of limbo 
-- eligible for execution but unable to be executed due to the state lacking an 
appropriate protocol for lethal injections.

Reporting the story in the January 1, 2015 edition, Washington Post staffer 
John Wagner front-loaded the article with praise for "practicing Catholic" 
O'Malley's, waiting until the eighth paragraph for the 1st mention of criticism 
of the move (emphasis mine):

Outgoing Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) on Wednesday cemented his legacy on a 
defining issue of his tenure, announcing that he would commute the sentences of 
Maryland's 4 remaining death-row inmates to life in prison without the 
possibility of parole.

With the stroke of a pen, O'Malley will soon wipe out the remnants of capital 
punishment in Maryland, an issue on which he lobbied lawmakers from the outset 
of his 1st term in 2007. A practicing Catholic, O'Malley argued that executions 
are not cost-effective, do not deter murders and are at odds with "our values 
as a people."

O'Malley's decision to commute the death sentences comes nearly 2 years after 
he persuaded the legislature to repeal capital punishment and 3 weeks before he 
will complete his second, and final, term.

The repeal did not apply to prisoners already on death row, leaving their fate 
up in the air. In November, Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler said he 
believes the state lacks any legal way to execute them, citing an earlier court 
ruling that invalidated state procedures for administering lethal injections.

"In my judgment, leaving these death sentences in place does not serve the 
public good of the people of Maryland - present or future," O'Malley said in a 
statement Wednesday.

The abolishment of the death penalty was one of several progressive 
accomplishments for O'Malley, a potential 2016 White House candidate, including 
the legalization of same-sex marriage and sweeping gun-control measures.

Randy Piechowicz, a relative of 1 of the inmates' victims, said his family "had 
been hopeful that one day the political climate would change and these 
sentences would be carried out and justice would be served."

O'Malley's decision, he said, "is the bitter end to a most horrible family 
tragedy."

The reaction of Mary F. Moore, "whose father and stepmother were slain in 1995" 
by 1 of the inmates effected by the commutation told the Post she was "not 
disappointed" but rather "devastated" by the O'Malley's decision. That quote, 
however, ended up in paragraph 14 out of the 28-paragraph story. "This man took 
away from this family people we respected and loved, and we miss them," she 
added in the following paragraph.

That was quickly followed by criticism of O'Malley from a pro-death penalty 
prosecutor, States Attorney Scott Shellenberger (D-Baltimore County), who 
inisted they were "valid sentences" that "should be carried out."

A reporter seeking to give readers a hint of the controversy involved in 
O'Malley's move would have placed this conflicting opinion much higher up in 
the story.

A few grafs later, Wagner noted that "longtime death-penalty opponent" State 
Delegate Samuel I Rosenberg (D-Baltimore) "stressed that none of the death-row 
inmates would ever be released under the sentence that will be assigned by 
O'Malley."

Of course, in the very next paragraph, Wagner admitted that a state court judge 
could "change" 1 such inmate's death sentence to life WITH the possibilty of 
parole. That inmate's attorneys are already seeking such in court and have 
pledge "there likely would be further litigation challenging [O'Malley's] 
authority" should he commute the sentence from death to life without parole.

Nah, that won't happen, Wagner seemed to retort by noted in the next graf, 
"[Maryland Attorney General Doug] Gansler said he was confident such a claim 
would not prevail."

Maybe. Maybe not. But that's far from an ironclad guarantee.

Wagner, as we at NewsBusters have documented, has a long history of shielding 
Maryland Democrats from bad news and of positively puffing liberal leaders in 
the state party, including the outgoing governor.

(source: Ken Shepherd; newsbusters.org/blogs)








NORTH CAROLINA:

Suspect charged with murder in Wilmington fire deaths



Wilmington police charged a local man Friday with the Dec. 23 deaths of 2 
people during a fire at 1901 Lingo Ave., according to a news release.

Harry Levert Davis, 23, was charged with 2 counts of 1st-degree murder, 3 
counts of attempted 1st-degree murder and 1 count of 1st-degree arson in 
connection with the fire, according to the release. Pamela Pickett, 51, and 
Makayla Pickett, 14, died in the fire, which investigators quickly deemed an 
arson.

Davis kept his eyes cast downward throughout much of his first appearance 
Friday in New Hanover County District Court, barely making eye contact with 
Judge Chad Hogston or New Hanover County District Attorney Ben David, who 
represented the state.

David asked that Davis be held without bail, a request Hogston granted.

Hogston also appointed the capital defender's office to Davis' defense, as the 
maximum penalty for a 1st-degree murder charge is the death penalty.

Pamela Pickett was able to escape the burning house before collapsing outside, 
said WPD Lt. Tom Witkowski. Makayla, who a family friend said was blind and 
diagnosed with autism, was found inside.

A resident of the home who was not identified could be heard begging for help 
on a 911 call.

"Please hurry. I don't know how to get 'em out of here," the woman said. "I've 
got to get my family out the house!"

"Ma'am, is anyone trapped inside the building?" the dispatcher asked.

"Yes, all of them," the caller said before hanging up.

A neighbor described seeing something sparking, like fireworks, on the front 
porch. Investigators said the fire started there.

Residents Beverly Pickett, Jasmine Sumpter and Deseree Pickett escaped the 
fire.

Davis was already being held in the New Hanover County jail with bail set at 
$525,000 on charges of violating a domestic violence protective order, speeding 
to elude arrest, driving while his license was revoked and reckless driving to 
endanger.

On Dec. 24, Wilmington Police Department officers arrested Davis after a brief 
chase, according to the release.

Wilmington Police Chief Ralph Evangelous said in the release, "I would like to 
offer my deepest condolences to the family of Pamela and Makayla Pickett, whose 
lives where tragically stolen on Dec. 23 at their home. We hope today's arrest 
brings them closure and helps the healing process begin."

Evangelous said funerals for the victims were Friday and, out of respect for 
the family, the police department would not hold a news conference.

(source: Wilmington Star News)



GEORGIA----new (impending) execution date

Execution Date Set For Georgia death row Inmate



Corrections officials in Georgia say a man convicted of killing a sheriff's 
deputy is set for execution later this month.

The Department of Corrections said in a news release Friday that Commissioner 
Brian Owens has scheduled the execution of Andrew Howard Brannan for January 13 
at 7 p.m.

Brannan was sentence to die for the January 1998 slaying of 22-year-old Laurens 
County sheriff's deputy Kyle Dinkheller.

Authorities have said Dinkheller stopped Brannan for driving 98 mph and 
demanded he take his hands from his pockets. Brannan then began cursing, 
dancing in the street and saying "shoot me" before he rushed the deputy. Police 
found Brannan the next day hiding in a sleeping bag beneath a camouflage tarp.

A jury in 2000 found Brannan guilty in Dinkheller's killing.

(source: Associated Press)








FLORIDA:

Death Penalty to Be Sought In Quadruple Slayings



As summer was winding down, 4 decaying bodies were found stacked on a hill in 
Hudson.

Now prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Adam Matos, 29, who they say 
killed his ex-girlfriend, her parents and the man she had recently begun 
dating.

Authorities visited the Brown family's home, where Matos was staying, in early 
September after receiving a tip that no one could be reached there. Inside, a 
Pasco County sheriff's deputy found large amounts of blood. About a mile away, 
deputies found the bodies, some with gunshot wounds, others with evidence of 
severe trauma.

They were Megan Brown, the 27-year-old mother of Matos' 4-year-old son; her 
parents, Margaret and Greg Brown; and Nicholas Leonard, 37.

A search and media blitz ensued. Deputies soon found Matos at a Tampa hotel, 
where he had checked in with his son. The child, severely autistic, was 
unharmed and has since been adopted.

In a jailhouse interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Matos denied the crime.

He is being held without bail in the Pasco County Jail. No trial date has been 
set.

(source: Tampa Bay Times)

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

Appeals court delays trial of Jacksonville man facing death row in 65-year-old 
woman's killing



The 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee has indefinitely delayed the 
start of a death-penalty murder trial that was scheduled to begin Monday in 
Jacksonville.

The appeals court is trying to determine whether the office of Public Defender 
Matt Shirk must be removed as the defense attorneys for Randall Deviney, 25, 
and postponed his trial while it sorts through arguments in the case. Even if 
Shirk's office remains on the case, the appeals court's decision means it will 
be months until the trial.

Shirk's office says it has a conflict with Deviney and another client, likely 
fellow death-penalty defendant Donald James Smith, and said it could no longer 
represent Deviney or Smith in their upcoming trials.

One of the defendants may have gained incriminating information on the other 
during their time on death row, although Shirk's office has refused to confirm 
that. Deviney is accused of killing 65-year-old neighbor Delores Futrell and 
Smith, 58, is accused of abducting, raping and killing 8-year-old Cherish 
Perrywinkle.

The offices of 4th Circuit State Attorney Angela Corey and Florida Attorney 
General Pam Bondi are arguing that there is no conflict because Corey's office 
has no interest in talking to either man about any information they have on the 
other. Circuit Judge Mallory Cooper, who will be the trial judge in both cases, 
agreed and said earlier this week that Deviney's criminal trial would begin 
Jan. 5.

But Shirk's office appealed Cooper's ruling and asked the appellate judges to 
delay the case and then remove them from representing both men.

The appeals court will hear oral arguments on this issue Thursday in 
Tallahassee.

Cooper previously agreed to delay Smith's trial, originally scheduled to begin 
Jan. 20, last month after defense attorneys said they weren't ready to go to 
trial. Cooper said based on her schedule the earliest he could now go on trial 
was May.

That means Deviney's trial will also likely be delayed until at least May and 
possibly longer if new lawyers have to take over the case.

If the public defender is removed from the cases, they will go to either the 
Office of Regional Conflict Counsel or to private attorneys being paid by the 
state. Smith and Deviney have both been declared indigent and can't pay for 
attorneys out of their own pocket.

Deviney was previously convicted of Futrell's murder in 2010 when Cooper 
sentenced him to death. It was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court in 
February 2013 when Justices ruled that police should have stopped questioning 
Deviney after he repeatedly told them he was done speaking.

He is accused of slitting Futrell's throat with a fish filleting knife in her 
Westside home on Bennington Drive. She used to fix meals for Deviney, paid him 
to do odd jobs and spoke with him about troubles in his youth.

(source: Florida Times-Union)