[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, ME., GA., OKLA.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 20



TEXAS----impending execution

Inmate to be executed Wednesday for 1993 triple murder in San Antonio



Arnold Prieto, 41, is scheduled to be executed Wednesday for his role in a 1993 
triple slaying in San Antonio.

Prieto is the only 1 of the 3 men originally arrested and charged with the 
murders of Virginia Rodriguez, 62, Rodolfo Rodriguez, 72, and Paula Moran, 90, 
to have received the death penalty.

A frequent contributor to death row website Minutes Before Six, Prieto 
described in detail his reaction in May to learning that his execution date had 
been set.

"As I read the order I heard clear as a bell the ticking hand very 
loudly...click...and it started to tick," he wrote. "The cosmic clock on the 
waist on Azrael has started for me. I'll be quite honest with you; while I read 
my legal papers and how my life had an expiration date, my heart sank to the 
pit of my stomach."

Prieto, who declined to be interviewed by the San Antonio Express-News, has 
also submitted numerous sketches to the website.

Brothers Jesse and Guadalupe Hernandez, who were the great nephews of the 
Rodriguezes, were arrested alongside Prieto 6 months after the killings. Jesse 
Hernandez, who was 1 day shy of his 17th birthday when the murders were 
committed, wasn't eligible for the death penalty and is serving a life 
sentence. Guadalupe Hernandez, originally labeled by authorities the mastermind 
of the robbery-turned-murder, eventually had all charges against him dropped.

In a statement Prieto gave to police after his arrest, he said it was the idea 
of Guadalupe Hernandez to drive from the Dallas suburb of Carrollton where the 
trio lived to San Antonio to rob the uncle.

Prieto told police they got to the home in the 1100 block of West Mistletoe 
Avenue in the middle of the night and that Virginia Rodriguez made them a 
breakfast of eggs, tortillas and juice. After eating, according to Prieto, 
Guadalupe Hernandez repeatedly stabbed his aunt with a screwdriver. Prieto did 
the same to Rodolfo Rodriguez, and Jesse Hernandez stabbed Paula Moran when she 
came out of her bedroom, Prieto said.

Jesse Hernandez told police it was Prieto who committed all the killings.

In his Minutes to Six blogs, Prieto has not mentioned the crime that led to his 
scheduled execution. The blog instead has described jail conditions, quoted an 
Iron Maiden song about an execution and touted the high school diploma he 
received in 2013.

"As you can see, the cards are stacked up against me," he wrote. "Nothing new 
really, since they have been stacked from the very beginning. ... Where is the 
dangerous killer and monster (jurors) foresaw??? ... Maybe the crystal ball was 
cloudy during those days or maybe they did not shake the ball hard enough."

(source: mysanantonio.com)

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

How 'American Sniper' Could Complicate the Murder Trial of Chris Kyle's 
Killer----In the wake of the record-breaking box office for the Clint Eastwood 
film, the defendant's attorney asks, "Can there be a fair trial?"



Clint Eastwood's Oscar-nominated American Sniper set off a $105 million 
box-office frenzy this weekend with potential ramifications in a capital murder 
case.

On Feb. 11, Eddie Ray Routh is scheduled to stand trial for killing Chris Kyle, 
the former Navy SEAL played by Bradley Cooper in the film. Prosecutors are 
seeking the death penalty for Routh, who confessed to shooting the deadliest 
sniper in American history and Kyle's friend Chad Littlefield 2 years ago at a 
rifle range southwest of Dallas. Routh, a former Marine, plans to introduce 
evidence that he was experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder and mount an 
insanity defense, but the enormous profile of Kyle in the wake of American 
Sniper's success could present some complications.

The Warner Bros. film "is going to be an issue," J. Warren St. John, Routh's 
attorney, tells The Hollywood Reporter in an interview. "Can there be a fair 
trial?"

Although American Sniper doesn't depict Kyle's death (it's based on the 
best-selling book written by Kyle before he died), the movie presents its 
subject as a hero - one who is often referred to simply as "Legend" throughout 
the movie. The film traces Kyle's four tours of duty in Iraq as well as his 
attempts to later counsel in-need veterans through the FITCO Cares Foundation. 
American Sniper also presents the fact that Routh's mother reached out to Kyle. 
Without using names, the movie states right before the credits roll that Kyle 
was killed by a veteran he was trying to help.

American Sniper stops there, and maybe for good reason.

In July 2013, the judge in the Routh case issued a protective order. Citing the 
"unusually emotional nature of the issues involved in the case" and the 
"extensive local and national media coverage this case has already generated," 
Judge Jason Cashon gagged many of the participants in the case - including law 
enforcement, attorneys and family members - from making comments to the media.

For that reason, St. John says he can't comment on whether he believes Routh 
can get a fair trial, though he does agree that the issue will come up in the 
week before the trial, when the parties are scheduled to begin the process of 
picking jurors. In addition, St. John seems to believe that Taya Kyle - the 
Chris Kyle's widow (played by Sienna Miller in the film) - might be in 
violation of the judge's order for an interview she gave to promote the movie 
on the Fox News show Hannity.

In recent weeks, Taya has given many interviews in support of American Sniper 
and has even addressed the situation involving Routh. For example, a Los 
Angeles Times story earlier this month quotes her as saying about the 
defendant, "To try and even find an excuse is disgusting. ... I know people 
with PTSD, and it's very real and very hard. But it doesn't change your core 
character."

Taya couldn't be reached for comment.

While American Sniper avoids sticky subjects like the $1.8 million that Jesse 
Ventura won at a defamation trial last year over Kyle's book, the film's 
attempt to avoid controversial subjects hasn't stood in the way of generating 
them nonetheless. And although American Sniper might have tried to be somewhat 
ambiguous about the cause of Kyle's death, it hasn't stopped some people on 
social media from demanding vengeance.

(source: Hollywood Reporter)

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

Prominent death row defense attorney suspended, allegedly over late filing



David Dow's year-long suspension from the Court of Criminal Appeals reportedly 
appears to be a case of bad blood between the court and the attorneys who come 
before it to defend death row inmates.

According to The Texas Tribune, the court suspended Dow, a professor at the 
University of Houston Law Center, because he was late in filing a motion to 
stop the execution of Miguel Angel Paredes in October and had done the same 
thing in a 2010 case.

It's not just that the judges are sticklers for punctuality. Some observers 
suggest that the state's top appeals court and death penalty defense attorneys 
- of whom Dow is one of the most prominent - don't get along.

"Basically, these folks just don't like each other on a level that transcends 
any given issue," the Texas justice blog "Grits for Breakfast" stated Dec. 1, 
2009.

In the Paredes case, Dow filed a motion to request a stay of execution at 12:37 
p.m. Oct. 21, the Texas Tribune said. Although technically on time, under the 
court's new rule that a pleading is late if it's filed "fewer than seven days 
before the scheduled execution date," Dow's filing was deemed late according to 
an example the court uses to illustrate the rule.

Here's the example: A request for a stay filed at 8 a.m. on a Wednesday, when 
the execution is scheduled for 6 p.m. the following Wednesday, is late.

Paredes was executed in October for a triple murder of gang rivals in 2000, the 
Tribune said. The Court of Criminal Appeals had no complaint about Paredes' 
initial defense lawyer, who called no witnesses at his capital murder trial, 
the paper said.

(source: Houston Chronicle)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Executions under Greg Abbott, 2015-present

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

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

1------------Jan. 21-------------------Arnold Prieto---------519

2------------Jan. 28-------------------Garcia White---------520

3------------Jan. 29-------------------Robert Ladd----------521

4------------Feb. 4--------------------Donald Newbury------522

5------------Feb. 10-------------------Les Bower, Jr.--------523

6------------Mar. 5--------------------Rodney Reed----------524

7------------Mar. 11-------------------Manuel Vasquez------525

8------------Mar. 18-------------------Randall Mays----------526

9------------Apr. 9--------------------Kent Sprouse-----------527

10-----------Apr. 15-------------------Manual Garza----------528

11-----------Apr. 23-------------------Richard Vasquez------529

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

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

(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)








MAINE:

Local Senator Proposes Death Penalty Return to Maine



Democratic Senator Bill Diamond of Windham is proposing to bring the death 
penalty back to Maine for people convicted of killing children in pornographic 
films. If passed it would be the 1st time Maine has restored the death penalty 
since 1887.

Diamond says they are still researching the specific points of the bill called 
An Act to Provide the Death Penalty Under 14 Years of Age Under Certain 
Circumstances. He says it is for a very narrow area of criminals, specifically 
those that kill a child while shooting pornographic snuff films, illegal movies 
that end in the subjects' actual on-camera death.

Senator Diamond represents District 26. He tells CBS13 that he is not a big 
death penalty proponent but knowing how egregious these acts are something 
needs to be done.

Diamond has been working to fight crimes that involve sexual assault for about 
10 years. He is the author of the 2012 book called "The Evil & the Innocent," 
which advocates for tougher consequences for sexual predators, particularly 
when children are the victims.

Diamond told CBS13 while he doesn't know of any specific cases of child deaths 
while shooting pornographic films in Maine, it is happening all over the world, 
and because it is very profitable he fears it could come to Maine. He says at 
the very least he hopes his bill opens up the conversation that this is 
happening.

Diamond says several other lawmakers have expressed interest in cosigning the 
bill. New Hampshire is the only New England state with the death penalty.

(source: WGME news)








GEORGIA----female faces death penalty

Death penalty sought for Catoosa County woman accused of killing a mother for 
her children



A Catoosa County, Ga., woman accused of murdering a mother to steal that 
woman's children faces a possible punishment of death.

If convicted, she would be only the 2nd woman on Georgia's death row.

Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herbert "Buzz" Franklin 
filed a motion Thursday to seek the death penalty against Catherine Goins. 
Investigators say she killed Natalia Roberts because she wanted Roberts' kids.

And she wanted Roberts' kids because she wanted her boyfriend back. He left 
her, according to the Catoosa County Sheriff's Office, because she lied to him 
about being pregnant.

The sheriff's office arrested Goins on Sept. 23, and at the time investigators 
weren't sure whether she planned to win her boyfriend back by pretending 
Roberts' children were hers. Goins faces charges of murder, armed robbery, 
aggravated assault, kidnapping and possession of a firearm in the commission of 
a crime.

Franklin's office was closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. 
Day, and he did not return an email seeking comment.

Prosecutors rarely pursue the death penalty against women. Of the 85 inmates on 
death row in Georgia at the beginning of last year, according to the Department 
of Corrections, only 1 inmate was female: Kelly Gissendaner, who was convicted 
in Gwinnett County in 1998.

There are also only 2 death row inmates who were convicted in the Lookout 
Mountain Judicial Circuit. Donnie Allen Hulett was sentenced to death in 2004, 
and Jonathan Jarrells was sentenced in 1988, though another judge sent his case 
back to Walker County on a technicality in 1991. It is still tied up in court.

Goins' attorney, Public Defender David Dunn, said the judicial circuit's 4 
judges are deciding which 1 of them will preside over the case. Then, that 
judge will hold a lengthy series of pretrial hearings that are mandated when 
prosecutors seek the death penalty.

If Franklin continues to pursue this punishment, Dunn will not represent Goins. 
By law, attorneys from the Georgia Capital Defenders Office must handle the 
case.

In murder trials, lawyers typically choose between 2 routes of defense: Either 
the police mistook the defendant for the real killer, or the defendant killed 
the victim in self-defense. Dunn could not discuss his strategy Monday, though, 
because in September he requested a gag order.

After his department arrested Goins, Sheriff Gary Sisk said during a news 
conference that she met her victim hours before the murder. Goins had spotted 
her children: a 3-year-old and a 3-week-old.

"Catherine Goins killed Natalia Roberts for her baby," Sisk said.

According to the sheriff's office, Goins told Roberts she had some old baby 
clothes she could give her.

Roberts agreed to meet Goins at the home of Tony Richards, Goins' friend who 
had given her access to his house. Richards was at work that day. Inside, 
according to the sheriff's office, as Roberts walked down a flight of stairs, 
Goins pointed a pistol at the back of her head and pulled the trigger.

Sisk would not say in September whether Roberts' children were in the house 
when she was killed, but did allege that Goins put the baby and the toddler in 
her car and drove away. She called Richards, and told him what had happened. He 
told her to call 911.

She didn't. But investigators say that Richards convinced her to come back to 
his house. He then called the police.

(source: Times Free Press)

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

Execution for Warren Lee Hill set for Jan. 27----Date officially set by Georgia 
Department of Corrections following court order



The execution for an inmate convicted of 2 murders, including a fellow inmate 
in Lee County, has been officially set by the Georgia Department of Corrections 
for Jan. 27.

Corrections Commissioner Brian Owens has set the date for the execution of 
Warren Lee Hill for Jan. 27 at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison 
in Jackson at 7 p.m., a news release issued by the agency said.

The Lee County Superior Court ordered the execution of Hill Friday. The order 
called for the execution to be carried out on a date between Jan. 27 and Feb. 
3.

Hill was convicted in 1991 for the murder of Joseph Handspike, a fellow inmate 
who he allegedly beat to death while imprisoned in Lee County in August 1990. 
At the time, Hill was serving a life sentence for the shooting death of Myra 
Wright, 18, in 1986.

Hill's attorneys have attempted to halt the execution based on mental capacity, 
contending he has a mental handicap making him ineligible for the death 
penalty. In Georgia, verification needed for barring an execution based on 
intellectual disability requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Hill's legal team has also made the argument that it is unconstitutional for 
Georgia to refuse to disclose the source of its lethal drugs, which the Georgia 
Supreme Court rejected.

If executed, Hill will be the 34th inmate put to death by lethal injection in 
Georgia. He will follow Andrew Brannan, who was executed Jan. 13 for the 
shooting death of a Laurens County deputy in 1998.

He has been granted stays on 3 occasions, making this the 4th scheduled 
execution for Hill.

(source: Albany Herald)








OKLAHOMA:

Writer of "Dead Man Walking," joins Oklahoma death-row inmate's fight for 
clemency



- The next inmate scheduled to die in Oklahoma is getting some high-profile 
help as he prepares to face the death chamber. Richard Glossip's new spiritual 
adviser is Sister Helen Prejean, best known for her work to abolish the death 
penalty. Sister Prejean wrote the book "Dead Man Walking" about her experiences 
ministering to those on death row. That book was turned into a 
critically-acclaimed motion picture.

"He [Glossip] wrote to me, we've been writing for about 4 or 5 months," Sister 
Prejean told Fox 25. When she learned about his case she began to look into the 
concerns about Glossip's conviction. This led her to accept his invitation to 
become a spiritual adviser.

Glossip had been on a hunger strike, but after nearly 2 weeks of not eating he 
said he could barely move. Glossip told Fox 25 it was Sister Prejean and his 
family that convinced him to start eating again to continue his fight. The DOC 
contends the hunger strike was primarily motivated by Glossip's desire to get 
food from the canteen rather than the prison cafeteria.

"He has swooped into my soul and into my life and so yes I'm going to fight for 
him in every way I can to get the truth out," Sister Prejean said. "To me we 
have such a broken system; it's on this...one thread, of this one man's word 
we're sending a man to his death."

Sister Prejean was referring to the testimony of Justin Sneed, which played a 
crucial role in Glossip's conviction. Sneed admitted to police that he murdered 
Barry Van Treese with a baseball bat inside a hotel room. It was later he told 
authorities Glossip planned the killing and offered to pay him to do it. 
Glossip has denied that allegation, but his conviction was upheld by a judge 
who ruled that Glossip's actions after the murder backed up Sneed's testimony. 
Glossip admits he helped Sneed after he learned of the murder, but said he did 
not plan it or pay for it.

If the execution is carried out, it will be the 7th Sister Prejean has 
witnessed at the request of inmates she's worked with. She told Fox 25 there is 
no way to really prepare to watch someone die, rather she is focused on her 
mission to raise awareness and advocate for abolishing the death penalty.

"It's all about Richard and it's all about being there for him where it counts 
fighting where it counts, doing everything within my power to resist this death 
and to try do to whatever I can to stop this terrible travesty of justice."

The Pardon and Parole Board voted last October to deny clemency for Glossip. 
The last prosecutor to try his case wrote to the board to say Glossip had shown 
no remorse and did not deserve any special treatment from the board.

Van Treese's brother, Kenneth, wrote the board saying that Glossip was 
"undoubtedly responsible" for his brother's death. "I will speak for my 
brother," Kenneth wrote, "It hurts like Hell to have your head bashed in with a 
baseball bat. Do not feel sorry for the bastard [that] took my life."

(source: okcfox.com)