[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., FLA., CALIF.

[Rick Halperin]

July 9



PENNSYLVANIA:

Wolf defends Pennsylvania death penalty moratorium, despite challenges


Gov. Tom Wolf said Thursday he believes his death penalty moratorium is on 
solid legal ground, despite court challenges by prosecutors including the state 
attorney general, and he warned against "a rush to judgment" on such an 
important issue before a bipartisan legislative panel issues its findings.

Wolf's comments came after Attorney General Kathleen Kane, a fellow Democrat, 
asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to rule that the moratorium is 
unconstitutional and to overturn it.

"I want to do what's right," Wolf said in a telephone interview with KQV 
Newsradio in Pittsburgh. "I think we owe it to ourselves, to future generations 
and to what's right to see what that commission says and weigh the evidence."

Kane's request on Monday that the state high court nullify the governor's 
moratorium echoes arguments that Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams 
raised in his challenge of another capital case pending before the state's high 
court, Wolf said.

Wolf imposed the moratorium in February, shortly after he took office, calling 
Pennsylvania's capital punishment system error-prone and expensive. He said he 
would issue reprieves at least until he receives the overdue report by the 
panel that is examining the death penalty.

"The constitution is pretty clear that I have the right to grant reprieves," 
the governor said. "That's what I've done, so we'll see how this goes."

He has granted three reprieves so far, canceling scheduled executions for 
Terrance Williams of Philadelphia, Robert Diamond of Bucks County and Hubert 
Lester Michael of Cumberland County.

Last month, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted mostly 
along party lines to approve a resolution urging Wolf to abandon his 
moratorium, saying it "exhibits an astounding disregard for the additional and 
unnecessary heartache" of families of death row inmates' victims.

Pennsylvania has executed only 3 murderers since the death penalty was 
legalized in the 1970s, the most recent in 1999.

Kane filed her request to the state's high court in the case of Michael, who 
was convicted of killing a York County teenager 22 years ago. The governor's 
policy exceeds his authority and is a threat to the justice system, Kane's 
filing said.

"Never before has a member of the executive branch of government sought to 
unilaterally negate a criminal penalty across an entire class of cases," the 
attorney general's office wrote.

(source: WTAE news)






FLORIDA:

Killer in Court: 1992 Taco Bell killing and Robbery----Port Orange survivor 
endures as Taco Bell killers continue legal fights

Kim Gordon was a teenager in 1992 working at a Taco Bell in Daytona Beach when 
2 brothers burst in and robbed the restaurant, in the mayhem stabbing Gordon in 
the neck and shooting a 17-year-old co-worker to death.

On Wednesday, Gordon was in court watching one of the brothers, Anthony Farina, 
as his lawyers discussed what will be his 3rd sentencing for the crime at a 
hearing expected next year. Courts have overturned 2 prior death sentences.

"You are trying to cope and deal with it and get over it, which you will never 
get over it," Gordon said, "and then you get a phone call and you have to 
relive it."

Gordon can expect to be back in court recalling the horror of May 9, 1992, when 
Anthony Farina's brother Jeffrey Farina shot Michelle Van Ness in the head. 
When he tried to shoot Gordon the gun misfired, so Anthony Farina handed 
Jeffrey Farina the knife he used to stab Gordon.

"It frustrates me. It aggravates me," said Gordon, who lives in Port Orange. 
"Again there's no rights for victims. We shouldn't be going through this 23 
years later. He shouldn't be on death row for 23 years - having rights when 
he's taken other people's rights away. Michelle Van Ness doesn't have any 
rights anymore. She's not here anymore."

Van Ness died from the gunshot. 2 other workers were also shot during the 
robbery but survived.

Anthony Farina and Jeffrey Farina were convicted of 1st-degree murder in 1992 
and sentenced to die for killing Van Ness. The brothers have twice been 
sentenced to death and twice courts have overturned the death sentences.

The Florida Supreme Court reduced Jeffrey Farina's death sentence to life 
because he was 16 at the time he killed Van Ness. And last year, the United 
States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta overturned Anthony 
Farina's death sentence because it ruled that then-State Attorney John Tanner 
had gone too far when he drew from the Bible during cross examination of a 
prison pastor. Anthony Farina's case was sent back to circuit court for a new 
sentencing.

Besides the resentencing, Anthony Farina's attorneys, Garry Wood and 
Marie-Louise Samuels Parmer, filed a motion seeking to overturn Anthony 
Farina's conviction after someone mailed an anonymous letter claiming that 2 
jurors at the 1992 trial did not reveal their ties to a contributor to Tanner's 
political campaigns. The motion also states that Tanner did not disclose the 
relationship. The letter claimed that the jury foreman was a good friend of Gus 
Sliger, the since-deceased campaign contributor. Another juror worked for 
Sliger, the letter states.

Circuit Judge Margaret Hudson dismissed the motion, writing it could only be 
filed after Anthony Farina is sentenced. He will face the death penalty when he 
is sentenced next year. But that depends on a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, 
which is reviewing Florida's death penalty.

Anthony Farina, in shackles and orange jail jumpsuit, did not appear to look at 
the family members at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand. Anthony Farina's 
attorneys have filed a motion to interview the two jurors. Assistant State 
Attorney Ed Davis said on Wednesday he will oppose that. A hearing date has not 
been set.

Jeffrey Farina is also going to file his own motion to have the conviction and 
sentence overturned based on the allegations about jurors, said Assistant 
Public Defender Jim Valerino on Wednesday.

Jeffrey Farina will be eligible for parole after 25 years in prison on the 
1st-degree murder conviction

The victims and their families have been sentenced to relive the terror and 
grief.

"23 years after the initial sentencing, yeah, this is tough," said Kim Gordon's 
father, Bob Gordon of Daytona Beach, as his eyes reddened and his voice 
trembled. "It's tough for my daughter to have to go through this."

(source: News-Journal)






CALIFORNIA:

Former death row inmate resentenced to consecutive life terms


A former death row inmate who was hoping to one day be set free will instead 
likely spend the rest of his life behind bars as a Kern County judge 
resentenced him Thursday to 2 consecutive terms of 25 years to life in prison.

Judge John W. Lua found the 1982 double murder Constantino Carrera was 
convicted of committing involved separate acts of violence, and the victims 
were especially vulnerable as they were unarmed and not expecting an attack. He 
said there was evidence Carrera and his co-defendant used several knives and a 
pair of scissors as they stabbed Jack and Carol Hayes to death.

Prosecutor Andrea Kohler said before resentencing that the couple suffered so 
many stab wounds and lacerations it was impossible to count them for court 
purposes. A schematic was created to show the numerous areas where the couple 
were injured.

"The schematic showed this couple died a horrific death, and all over $238," 
Kohler said.

Carrera, 19 at the time, and his then 17-year-old co-defendant, Ramiro Ruiz, 
killed Jack and Carol Hayes during a 1982 robbery of the Imperial 400 Motel in 
Mojave. The Hayes managed the motel.

Deputy Public Defender Paul Cadman, Carrera's attorney, argued his client 
deserved a concurrent sentence and a shot at freedom because unethical behavior 
on the part of a Kern County prosecutor resulted in him landing on death row. 
Over the objections of Kohler, Cadman said Carrera is a victim of former 
prosecutor Michael J. Vendrasco, who tried the case.

Cadman, noting a federal court's ruling in the case, said Vendrasco put 
jailhouse informants and known liars on the stand during Carrera's trial and 
hid the fact that those witnesses were given deals for their cooperation. He 
said Vendrasco also, in an "insidious way," put on 2 trials in which he 
presented contradictory evidence.

A prosecution witness testified during Ruiz's trial that Ruiz was the attacker, 
while Carrera was involved in the robbery but "froze" and did nothing more 
after cutting Carol Hayes' arm. But Carrera's jurors were told that Carrera was 
equally responsible for the attacks.

That raised the level of responsibility and intent in the crime, making Carrera 
eligible for the death penalty.

U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Ishii reversed Carrera's death sentence in 
2004 after finding Vendrasco committed misconduct during the trial. The ruling, 
however, affirmed Carrera's conviction for 2 counts of 1st-degree murder.

Relatives of Carrera who attended the resentencing declined comment afterward.

(source: The Bakersfield Californian)