[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, GA., ALA., KY., OKLA., MO., ARIZ., USA

[Rick Halperin]

July 14




TEXAS:

East Texas inmates on death row


A Texas court has set an execution date for an East Texas man convicted for 
killing his mother.

Tracy Beatty, of Whitehouse, was convicted for the November 2003 killing of his 
mother, Carolyn Click, in Smith County. On Monday, a court set Beatty's 
execution for 6 p.m., Aug. 13.

Click's preliminary autopsy found that she had been strangled and partially 
covered with nylon, then buried behind her home.

Beatty is one of several East Texas inmates on death row. Others waiting for 
execution dates to be set include:

--Eric Lyle Williams, 48, Kaufman County: According to TDCJ records, on March 
30, 2013 in Kaufman County, Williams and co-defendent Kimberly Irene Williams 
murdered the Kaufman County District Attorney and his wife in their residence.

--Micah Brown, 36, Hunt County: Subject threatened and followed the victim in 
her vehicle which caused the victim to notify the local police department. The 
police department responded to the scene and observed the subject shot the 
victim 1 time in the head with a 20 gauge shotgun while she was sitting in her 
vehicle. The subject and the victim's 2 children were also in the vehicle at 
the time of the incident. Subject then fled the scene in his vehicle.

--Kimberly Cargill, 48, Smith County: Subject did not want the victim to 
testify against her in a child protective case. Subject told the victim she 
would come and get her and hide her so she would not be required to testify 
because of the subpoena. Subject claims the victim had a seizure and quit 
breathing while they were driving. She drove her to a county road, doused the 
victim with lighter fluid and set her clothes on fire. Subject then left the 
scene.

--Cortne Mareese Robinson, 25, Harrison County: During the night in Marshall 
TX, the subject burglarized the residence of an 82 year old white female and 82 
year old white male. The white male was shot with a .357 revolver resulting in 
his death. Co-Defendants: Travion Dondrell Young, Bradney Randall Smith

--Blaine Keith Milam, 25, Rusk County: During the day in Henderson, TX, the 
subject struck a 13 month old white female unknown amount of times in victim's 
head resulting in her death. Co-Defendant: Jessica Bain Carson

--Demontrell Miller, 28, Smith County: Caused the death of a 2 year old black 
male by either striking with his hand, kicking with his foot or striking with 
an unknown hard object.

--Randall Mays, 55, Henderson County: The subject on 05/17/2007, involved in 
the shooting of 2 law enforcement officers, causing both of the victims to 
become deceased.

--Clifton Williams, 31, Smith County: On July 9, 2005 in Smith County, Williams 
entered into the residence of a 93 year old white female, stabbed, beat and 
strangled her, and burned her body. Williams then stole her purse and car and 
fled the scene.

--Robert Leslie Roberson III, 48, Anderson County: On 01/31/2002, in Palestine, 
Texas, Roberson took his 2 year old white female daughter to Palestine Regional 
Medical Center, claiming she had fallen out of bed. The victim had suffered 
severe trauma to her head from being struck by Roberson. The victim was life 
flighted to Dallas Children's Hospital, where she died from her injuries the 
next day. Roberson was in the course of committing or attempting to commit 
aggravated sexual assault on the victim.

--Daniel Acker, 43, Hopkins County: On 03/12/2000, Acker caused the death of a 
32 year old female. Acker kidnapped the victim, then murdered her by 
strangulation and blunt force trauma. The victim's body was found along side a 
county road.

--Troy Clark, 47, Smith County: Convicted in the May 1, 1998 drowning death of 
a 20-year-old white female. Clark and a co-defendant took the victim to their 
residence, where they drowned her in the bathtub. They then took the victim to 
a remote area where they dumped the body. The victim was found 5 months later 
in a ditch by Tyler police.

--Allen Bridgers, 44, Smith County: On May 25, 1997 Bridgers murdered a 
53-year-old black female. Bridgers had been living with the victim and took a 
.38-caliber revolver and fatally shot her in the throat. Bridgers then stole 
her 1985 Lincoln Town car, which he later left at a bus terminal in Dallas, 
Texas. Then Bridgers took a bus to Florida. He was arrested in Ft. Lauderdale, 
Florida on May 28, 1997.

--Billy Joe Wardlow, 40, Titus County: Convicted in robbery and murder of 
82-year-old Carl Cole of Cason, Texas. Wardlow and co-defendant Tonya Fulfer 
walked into Cole's home on County Road 1207 with the intent of robbing him. 
Wardlow shot Cole once in the head with a .45 pistol, wrapped his body in a 
bedspread and placed it in a bedroom closet. Wardlow and Fulfer stole Cole's 
1993 pickup truck and drove it to Madison, Nebraska where they sold it. They 
were arrested the next day in Madison, South Dakota in a car they had traded 
for the truck.

--David Lewis, 50, Angelina County: Convicted in the shooting death of Myrtle 
Ruby in Lufkin. Ruby was shot with a .22-caliber rifle after confronting Lewis, 
who had broken into her home.

--Harvey Earvin, 57, Angelina County: Convicted in the December 1976 robbery 
and slaying of Ertis Brock, 75, a Lufkin service station attendant. Court 
records indicate that Earvin, wearing an Afro-type wig and cosmetic mustache, 
and his 15-year-old girlfriend went to the rear of a filling station on Raquet 
Street to rob Brock of the cash he had collected during the day. Earvin, armed 
with a 20-gauge shotgun, told Brock to stop upon seeing him carrying cash bags 
to his car and then shot the attendant in the chest when he reached into his 
back pocket. Earvin told police he thought Brock was reaching for a gun. Earvin 
fled from the scene, dropping his gun and leaving the cash bags behind. Earvin 
later laughed and joked about the murder to friends and cellmates.

(source: KLTV news)






GEORGIA:

Jamie Hood begins his defense in death penalty trial


It was slow going as admitted cop killer Jamie Hood began his defense in his 
death penalty trial on Monday.

Hood is accused of shooting and killing Athens-Clarke County police officer 
Elmer "Buddy" Christian and Officer Tony Howard in March 2011 as authorities 
were searching for Hood for a kidnapping and carjacking earlier that day.

After firing not one but two attorneys, Jamie Hood insisted he would represent 
himself. Still, the judge has ordered those two lawyers to sit behind Hood and 
help when possible.

Hood was visibly frustrated at times as he called his first witnesses. Hood 
wasn't sure how to swear in his first witness. That led his standby counsel to 
writing -- by hand -- how exactly to phrase that.

Hood has admitted to shooting and wounding Howard, then shooting and killing 
Christian on March 22, 2011. Hood believes the crimes are justified because he 
says he feared for his life when he saw Officer Howard.

Hood says when he was in jail, he discovered Howard was having an affair with a 
married female deputy and that Howard beat him and threatened to kill him if he 
told anyone.

Ailene Howard, the wounded officer's stepmother, took the stand.

"I do remember saying that he was being hailed as a hero, and that I didn't 
think he was," Howard said.

A GBI interview with Howard was ruled inadmissible by the judge because Howard 
expressed her opinion.

""I feel like whatever issue he and Jamie Hood had, it cost Buddy Christian his 
life," Ailene Howard said in the interview, which jurors did not see.

The deputy who had an affair with Tony Howard admitted to it on the stand. They 
are now married with a child.

2 weeks ago, Howard testified that he wasn't even aware of who Jamie Hood was 
before the night of the shooting.

(source: WXIA news)






ALABAMA:

Death row inmate loses appeal because of time limit


Death row inmate William Kuenzel waited too long to file his latest appeal, a 
state court ruled Monday.

Kuenzel, who was sentenced to death more than 25 years ago for the 1987 murder 
of Sylacauga convenience store clerk Linda Jean Offord, sought to overturn that 
conviction on the grounds that a key witness in the case said one thing to a 
grand jury and another in the trial. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals 
ruled that Kuenzel waited too long to press that claim.

"Only when he did not obtain the relief he wanted in federal court did Kuenzel 
decide to pursue a state remedy," Judge Elizabeth Kellum wrote in the court's 
opinion.

Kuenzel, 53, was convicted in 1988 of capital murder. Prosecutors said he 
killed Offord with a 16-gauge shotgun during a late-night robbery of Joe Bob's 
Crystal convenience store. Kuenzel's roommate, Harvey Venn, testified that he 
waited in a car while Kuenzel went in to rob the store. Venn served 10 years in 
prison for his role in the robbery.

Kuenzel's lawyers challenged the conviction in state court on the grounds that 
in Alabama, a person can't be convicted of a capital crime solely on the basis 
of an accomplice's testimony.

Another witness, April Harris, told jurors in 1988 that she recognized Kuenzel 
and Venn at the store when riding past in a car about an hour before the 
killing. In 2010, Kuenzel's lawyers unearthed grand jury testimony that showed 
Harris saying she "couldn't make out" who was in the store.

The inmate brought an appeal in federal court, and saw it rejected there. The 
U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Then he brought it back to the 
state appeals court. In their ruling, judges noted that appeals based on new 
evidence have to be brought six months after the evidence is discovered.

David Kochman, Kuenzel's attorney, said he would apply for a re-hearing of the 
case, and if denied would try to take the matter to the Alabama Supreme Court.

"I think the point is that this decision turns exclusively on procedure without 
considering the merits," he said. "This is a case where form cannot prevail 
over substance."

Kuenzel was originally scheduled to die by lethal injection March 19, but his 
execution was stayed so the appeals court could hear his case.

Drug challenge could continue

8 others, also scheduled for execution this year, saw their executions stayed 
when the U.S. Supreme Court took up a challenge to Oklahoma's lethal injection 
protocol.

Like Alabama, Oklahoma uses midazolam as the 1st drug in a 3-drug combination 
for lethal injection. The drug is supposed to kill the pain caused by the 
potassium chloride used to stop an inmate's heart. After a botched execution 
with the drug in Oklahoma last year, inmates argued that use of the drug was 
illegal under the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Alabama's 
scheduled executions were put on hold pending a ruling in that case.

Last month, the Supreme Court upheld the use of the drug, saying that inmates 
hadn't identified another available drug that would cause less pain.

The condemned Alabama inmates and the state attorney general had until Monday 
to file new motions in response to the Supreme Court ruling. An attorney for 5 
of the inmates - not including Kuenzel - said his clients are continuing to 
challenge Alabama's execution protocol. He said Alabama's execution procedures 
may not be exactly the same as the procedures used in Oklahoma.

"My clients and I know way more about Oklahoma's protocol than we do about 
Alabama's," said John Palombi, who works as a federal public defender in 
Montgomery. "That's the issue here."

Asked for comment on the Supreme Court case, attorney general spokesman Mike 
Lewis said in an e-mail that the attorney general's office was in the process 
of filing motions to dismiss complaints by all 8 inmates.

Alabama hasn't executed an inmate in 2 years, due to legal challenges and 
shortages of drugs.

(source: Anniston Star)

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

Alabama Death Row Prisoner Wins New Trial


The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday granted a new trial to EJI 
client Carlos Kennedy because the trial judge violated Mr. Kennedy's rights to 
due process and a fair trial.

Carlos Kennedy was arrested in 2010 and charged with capital murder. When he 
first appeared in court for his arraignment, he asked for appointed counsel to 
be removed from the case and that he be allowed to represent himself instead. 
The trial court determined that Mr. Kennedy understood that representing 
himself would mean giving up his right to appointed counsel and granted his 
request. Nearly a year later, however, the trial court reversed its order and 
forced Mr. Kennedy to be represented by appointed counsel. He was convicted and 
sentenced to death.

On appeal, Mr. Kennedy argued that his constitutional right to choose whether 
he wanted to represent himself at trial had been violated. In Faretta v. 
California, the United States Supreme Court explained that, because the 
defendant alone bears the consequences of a conviction, he must be free to 
decide whether counsel is to his advantage. The Court wrote that "his choice 
must be honored out of 'that respect for the individual which is the lifeblood 
of the law.'"

Accordingly, the law requires that a defendant must be allowed to represent 
himself if he "clearly and unequivocally" invokes the right to 
self-representation in a timely manner, unless he engages in "obstructionist" 
behavior or does not understand the right to counsel that he is waiving.

The Court of Criminal Appeals observed that Mr. Kennedy "clearly and 
unequivocally" informed the trial court that he wished to represent himself at 
trial and did so in a timely manner, and he did not engage in any 
obstructionist behavior. The court unanimously ruled that the trial court 
abused its discretion when it forced Mr. Kennedy to be represented by appointed 
counsel.

The appellate court noted that, in Faretta, the Supreme Court explained that 
"[t]o force a lawyer on a defendant can only lead him to believe that the law 
contrives against him." Here, the court wrote, "because Kennedy had an inherent 
distrust of court appointed attorneys, the circuit court's decision to force a 
lawyer on him put Kennedy in a position of believing that 'the law contrives 
against him.'"

The court reversed Mr. Kennedy's conviction and death sentence and remanded for 
a new trial.

(source: Equal Justice Initiative)






KENTUCKY:

Death Penalty Opponents See Hope in Supreme Court Decision


Advocates for repealing the death penalty in Kentucky claim momentum remains on 
their side despite a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing the use of a 
controversial drug during executions.

Earlier this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in an Oklahoma case that a 
controversial drug could be used in executions.

Ironically, death penalty abolitionists in Kentucky see a silver lining in the 
5-4 decision by focusing on what dissenting justices had to say.

Justice Stephen Breyer wrote, "..rather than try to patch up the death 
penalty's legal wounds one at a time, I would ask for full briefing on a more 
basic question: whether the death penalty violates the Constitution."

Mike VonAllmen volunteers with the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death 
Penalty.

"For them to add their weight to it, certainly gives weight to the entire 
question," he states. "Yes, the rest of the court should heed that message and 
begin to look at it."

VonAllmen brings a unique perspective to the debate. Convicted of sexual 
assault and robbery in 1982, he spent 11 years behind bars and another 16 years 
on parole before being exonerated in 2010.

A judge set aside his conviction in part because VonAllmen was mistakenly 
identified by the victim.

Kentucky is among 31 states where the death penalty remains legal, legislators 
often citing it as a deterrent to crime.

VonAllmen says his ordeal shows how easily someone can be convicted of a crime 
he or she did not commit.

While his was not a capital punishment case, he says it still speaks to why he 
believes the death penalty should be abolished.

"It says that it is less than perfect," he stresses. "So, therefore, we can't 
administer the most serious penalty to something that we can never be 100 % 
sure of."

Again this year, the Kentucky General Assembly rejected two bills that would 
have made life without parole the maximum sentence.

State Sen. Gerald Neal, (D) Louisville, says he will continue filing 
legislation to repeal the death penalty.

"There's no doubt in my mind that at some point the death penalty will be a 
thing of the past and we will move right up there with other highly 
industrialized countries around the world," he states.

The last execution in Kentucky was in 2008.

(source: WMKY news)





OKLAHOMA:

Glossip supporters say case doesn't merit death penalty----Attorney Don Knight 
said there is too much uncertainty for the execution to go forward.


The case against Richard Glossip, who is scheduled to be executed Sept. 16, 
lacks physical evidence and is based on questionable testimony, supporters of 
the death row inmate said Monday.

They also said the police investigation was inadequate and Glossip's previous 
attorneys lacked sufficient funding to launch their own exhaustive probe.

Don Knight, Glossip's attorney, said he is waging an uphill battle and called 
for anybody with knowledge of the case to provide information that could be 
useful to the defense.

Glossip, 52, was convicted of 1st-degree murder in the 1997 beating death of 
Barry Alan Van Treese, 54, at a west Oklahoma City motel. A co-defendant 
confessed to beating Van Treese, but said he did so at Glossips direction. 
Glossip has maintained his innocence.

Knight said there is too much uncertainty for the execution to go forward.

"You would think the death penalty would be for a certain class of people, the 
worst of the worst, where guilt is not at issue," he said. "This case is far 
from the worst of the worst."

The case against Richard Glossip, who is scheduled to be executed Sept. 16, 
lacks physical evidence and is based on questionable testimony, supporters of 
the death row inmate said Monday.

They also said the police investigation was inadequate and Glossip's previous 
attorneys lacked sufficient funding to launch their own exhaustive probe.

Don Knight, Glossip's attorney, said he is waging an uphill battle and called 
for anybody with knowledge of the case to provide information that could be 
useful to the defense.

Glossip, 52, was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1997 beating death of 
Barry Alan Van Treese, 54, at a west Oklahoma City motel. A co-defendant 
confessed to beating Van Treese, but said he did so at Glossip's direction. 
Glossip has maintained his innocence.

Knight said there is too much uncertainty for the execution to go forward.

"You would think the death penalty would be for a certain class of people, the 
worst of the worst, where guilt is not at issue," he said. "This case is far 
from the worst of the worst."

Prosecutors said Glossip devised a plot to kill Van Treese.

The motel's maintenance man, Justin Sneed, pleaded guilty to killing Van 
Treese. He admitted to bludgeoning him to death in a hotel room but said 
Glossip put him up to it. Sneed testified against Glossip in exchange for a 
sentence of life without parole.

Glossip was among a group of death row inmates who challenged a sedative in the 
three-drug combination used to perform lethal injections in Oklahoma.

The U.S. Supreme Court narrowly rejected that appeal.

Connie Johnson, chairwoman of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death 
Penalty, noted that state officials have been fighting legal efforts to remove 
from the state Capitol grounds a Ten Commandments monument, that includes the 
directive, "Though shalt not kill."

"We want to insist that the statue remain but not adhere to its words," she 
said.

(source: The Oklahoman)

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

Richard Glossip's Attorneys Scramble For New Evidence----Attorneys for the 
nexst inmate on death row are fighting the clock. Richard Glossip is set to be 
executed in 65 days.


Attorneys for the next inmate on death row are fighting the clock. Richard 
Glossip is set to be executed in 65 days.

His supporters gathered Monday at the state capitol, desperate for new evidence 
that might help save his life. His attorney shared a few leads they are 
pursuing in the case and continued to claim Glossip's innocence.

Sister Helen Prejean, an advocate for the abolition of the death penalty, was 
at the conference. She said Glossip is holding up as he awaits his death.

"He's found a way, actually, to live in peace where he is," Prejean said.

Prejean communicates with Glossip often.

"'You are not going to die.' And that's the feeling I communicate to Richard. 
But we are fighting like you know what behind the scenes and I know the uphill 
battle we have," she explained.

At Monday's press conference, Prejean and Glossip's attorneys said they're 
desperate for new evidence to help them prove he is not a killer.

"Innocence is really I think the only thing we have left. And I'm scared to 
death, quite frankly. I'm scared to death. I am terrified that we can't get 
enough information to get back in front of a court," 1 of Glossip's attorneys 
Don Knight told News 9. To get back in front of a court, they said they need 
witnesses who might have been at that motel in 1997 when Barry Van Treese was 
beaten to death to come forward.

And they said they need Justin Sneed to come clean. It was his testimony that 
led to Glossip's conviction. Sneed said Glossip told him to murder Van Treese.

"That's all there is to this case - Justin Sneed. And so if I can do an 
effective cross examination of Justin Sneed, we can get a 'not guilty' 
verdict," Knight said.

Glossip's attorney said the guilty verdict came from a flawed investigative 
process and an underfunded defense. Prejean said she can't imagine what she 
called a broken system leading to the death of an innocent man.

"This case relies solely upon the evidence and the testimony of one man who has 
admitted to being the murderer and who is now spending the rest of his life in 
a medium security prison in Oklahoma and the guy who we pointed the finger at 
is scheduled to be executed," Knight said.

Glossip's supporters have also tried to track down Sneed's daughter. She wrote 
a letter stating her father had talked about wanting to recant his testimony.

According to Knight, one of Glossip's attorneys has had a direct meeting with 
Sneed. Knight would not elaborate on the content of that meeting. However, he 
did say he believed Justin Sneed spoke about the murder from a place of fear.

Glossip's execution is scheduled for Sept. 16.

(source: News9)

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

Death penalty opponents seek new evidence in Oklahoma case


Death penalty opponents say they're looking for new evidence to exonerate an 
Oklahoma death row inmate who is scheduled to die by lethal injection in 
September.

Members of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty appeared with 
Sister Helen Prejean Monday on behalf of 52-year-old Richard Eugene Glossip, 
who is scheduled to be put to death on Sept. 16.

Glossip was convicted of 1st-degree murder in the 1997 beating death of Barry 
Alan Van Treese at a west Oklahoma City motel. But Prejean, a leading opponent 
of the death penalty and Glossip's spiritual adviser, says Glossip should not 
be executed.

Attorney Don Knight says the original police investigation was faulty and death 
penalty opponents are looking for evidence of Glossip's innocence in an effort 
to halt his execution.

(source: Associated Press)


MISSOURI----impending execution

Inmate David Zink Denied Appeal by Missouri Supreme Court


The Missouri Supreme Court has denied an appeal by a prison inmate scheduled to 
be executed Tuesday in the 2001 western Missouri slaying of a 19-year-old woman 
he abducted.

The state's high court rejected without comment a request to intervene on 
behalf of 55-year-old David Zink. That appeal was filed Sunday.

Zink still had appeals yet to be decided by the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. 
Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. A clemency request also is 
with Gov. Jay Nixon.

He was condemned in 2004 after being convicted in the death of Amanda Morton of 
Strafford.

(source: Associated Press)

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

Missouri prepares to execute David Zink for 2001 murder


David Zink is scheduled to die by lethal injection as early as 6 p.m. Tuesday 
(July 14) at Bonne Terre. Unless a court grants his request for a stay, he will 
be the 5th person executed in Missouri this year.

Zink was convicted of 1st-degree murder, kidnapping and rape in the 2001 death 
of Amanda Morton. According to police reports, Zink rear-ended Morton's car on 
Interstate-44 near Strafford on July 12, 2001.

Her car was found abandoned on the side of the highway, with the motor still 
running and the headlights on. Morton's purse, credit cards and medication were 
also found in the car.

A missing person's report that aired on TV that night caught the attention of a 
motel owner in Camdenton, who told police that the missing woman was Morton, 
and that she was with Zink when he checked in. Police used the information 
provided by the motel owner to track Zink down and arrest him.

Zink led police to a cemetery where Morton's body had been buried. He gave 2 
videotaped confessions in which he described how he killed Morton; he said that 
his motive for the killing was to avoid returning to prison. Zink had been 
released by authorities in Texas after serving 20 years of a 33-year sentence 
for kidnapping and raping a woman there.

Zink also described killing Morton in a recent TV interview with Fox affiliate 
KTVI in St. Louis.

Zink served as his own lawyer during his trial in 2004 and had sought to have 
the charges against him reduced to involuntary manslaughter. The attorneys who 
now represent him argue that he should not have been allowed to represent 
himself.

They, along with several anti-death penalty activists, also say that Zink 
suffered brain damage when he contracted meningitis-encephalitis as a child.

He was also the lead plaintiff in Zink, et. al. v. Lombardi, which challenged 
the constitutionality of Missouri's lethal injection protocol. However, the 
U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to hear that case after upholding a similar 
challenge to lethal injection in a case from Oklahoma.

(source: stlpublicradio.org)

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

Condemned man speaks


One day before his scheduled execution, convicted killer David Zink spoke with 
FOX2 by telephone. Zink murdered 19-year-old Amanda Morton after abducting and 
sexually assaulting her. He declined to answer questions, and instead read a 
prepared statement.

"I can't imagine the pain and anguish one experiences when they learn that 
someone has killed a loved one, and I offer my sincerest apology to Amanda 
Morton's family and friends for my actions. I hope my execution brings them the 
peace and satisfaction they seek," Zink told us.

Last month we showed you the chilling jailhouse confession Zink made to 
investigators.

http://fox2now.com/2015/06/10/chilling-videotaped-confession-of-a-killer-on-death-row/

Zink admitted killing 19-year-old Amanda Morton in 2001. She was from 
Strafford, Mo. Authorities say Zink was drinking and driving when he rear ended 
Morton's vehicle. Zink told authorities he killed Morton because he was on 
parole, and was afraid she would report him for drinking and driving.

He confessed to taking the teen to a cemetery, tying her to a tree and breaking 
her neck. During his video-taped confession with investigators, Zink said he 
wasn't sure Morton was dead at that point.

"That's when I decided to cut her spinal cord," said Zink during his 
confession. "You ain't going to live through that. That's when I took out the 
knife and I cut her."

During his statement Monday, Zink also apologized to his family and friends.

"I kept my promise to fight this case for their benefit, and although it was 
unsuccessful to prevent the execution, we have been successful in exposing some 
serious flaws that offend the basic concept of the American justice system," 
said Zink.

Zink's attorneys have filed last minute appeals with the U.S. Supreme Court. 
Empower Missouri filed a separate lawsuit challenging the state for the way it 
obtains the drug used to carry out executions. The group hoped the lawsuit 
would halt the execution, but that lawsuit was dismissed Monday.

The Executive Director for Empower Missouri is former State Rep. Jeanette Mott 
Oxford. She said an attorney was in the process of appealing the dismissal.

"We don't believe that the death penalty does anything to make our society a 
better place," said Mott Oxford. "It's a very costly sentence to carry out, and 
it's irreversible if you get it wrong."

(source: KTVI news)

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

Missouri judge drops lawsuit over lethal injection policy


A lawsuit against Missouri over lethal injection policies for executions has 
been dismissed.

Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce on Monday dropped the case.

A group of Missouri taxpayers and former lawmakers had claimed the state 
illegally obtains the drug pentobarbital that is used to put inmates to death. 
They also said the state receives the drug through an illegal prescription.

Lawyers for the Missouri attorney general's office had asked the judge to 
dismiss the case because it wrongly sought to privately enforce federal food 
and drug laws.

The state also argued the lawsuit was an attempt to block David Zink's 
execution. He's set to be put to death Tuesday.

Attorney Justin Gelfand, an attorney for the taxpayers, says they are 
considering appealing Joyce's ruling.

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

The Latest on Missouri execution: State Supreme Court denies inmate's appeal 
without comment


The latest developments involving the execution scheduled for Tuesday of inmate 
David Zink, convicted of the 2001 killing of 19-year-old Amanda Morton:

The Missouri Supreme Court has denied an appeal by a prison inmate scheduled to 
be executed Tuesday in the 2001 western Missouri slaying of a 19-year-old woman 
he abducted.

The state's high court rejected without comment a request to intervene on 
behalf of 55-year-old David Zink. That appeal was filed Sunday.

Zink still had appeals yet to be decided by the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. 
Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. A clemency request also is 
with Gov. Jay Nixon.

He was condemned in 2004 after being convicted in the death of Amanda Morton of 
Strafford. Investigators say he tied her to a cemetery tree and snapped her 
neck before slicing her spinal cord to make sure she would not survive.

(source for both: Associated Press)

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

Exonerated inmate seeks to help others who have been wrongfully 
accused----Daryl Burton was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life in 
prison. But after a long fight, he is sharing his story with others, hoping it 
will change minds and hearts.Daryl Burton was wrongfully convicted and 
sentenced to life in prison. But after a long fight, he is sharing his story 
with others, hoping it will change minds and hearts.


One man's story is so powerful it might change the way others look at the death 
penalty. Daryl Burton was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life in prison. 
But after a long fight, he is sharing his story with others, hoping it will 
change minds and hearts.

Singing, praying and fellowship are the cornerstones of worship at The Open 
Table, part of the Second Presbyterian Church's ministry in Kansas City. But 
Sunday night's service included a life-changing story.

"It was hell," said Burton talking about the 24 years he spent in the Jefferson 
City Correctional Center, wrongfully convicted for a murder in St. Louis.

"No motive, no evidence, nothing connecting me except witnesses that police 
used as snitch witnesses," he said.

It has been 7 years since Burton was able to overturn his conviction. During 
his incarceration, he became close to God and felt a close connection to one 
biblical figure in particular.

"When I look at Christ, I look at him as someone on death row as an innocent 
man," Burton said.

The death penalty can be a divisive issue, even for Christians. Burton hopes to 
change that with his story.

"It is not equal. It is not fair. The disparity is just unbelievable," he said.

It is that kind of dialogue worship leader Nick Pinkrel wants to create at his 
church.

"We felt like this was the perfect time for this topic to be discussed, this 
topic of race, incarceration, policing, racial bias," Pinkrel said.

Now Burton is becoming a minister. He'll graduate from seminary at Resurrection 
Methodist Church in Leawood next spring. Speaking against the death penalty is 
something he considers a service to God.

(source: kctv5.com)






ARIZONA:

Valenzuela indicted for murder; county may seek death penalty


A grand jury returned murder indictments against Jose Ignacio Valenzuela Jr. in 
the deaths of Michael and Tina Careccia.

The indictment is 2 counts of 1st-degree murder. Pinal County Attorney Lando 
Voyles provided few other details in a brief press conference Monday afternoon.

As previously reported, Valenzuela, 38, of Maricopa, is set to be arraigned 
Friday at 8:30 a.m. At the arraignment, Valenzuela can enter a plea. Voyles' 
office will seek a court date or other information on "how to proceed on the 
case," depending on that plea.

Voyles said his office will review the facts of the case to determine whether 
to seek the death penalty.

"The standard procedure on any first-degree murder case is that within the 
statutory requirement, my office and I will review the case and review the 
facts of the case," he said, "then make a determination as to whether or not 
this is a case that is deemed worthy of pursuing the death penalty on."

They will make a decision within 60 days.

Voyles said he is counting on the thorough investigations of the Pinal County 
Sheriff's Office for facts on which to seek justice for the Careccias.

"As far as talking about the facts, I'm not going to talk about the facts. 
Given the fact that this is an ongoing case and the defendant is innocent until 
proven guilty," he said. "All the facts will be brought out during trial."

Sheriff Paul Babeu said earlier Valenzuela had "in effect" confessed to the 
murder of the couple.

"I won't even talk about any confessions," Voyles said. "There is a time for 
all that, and when that time comes, we'll talk about it then."

Arizona Revised Statutes violations cited in grand jury indictment for a Class 
1 felony on each death:

13-1105(A)(1)(2) 1st degree murder; classification

13-1101 Definitions

13-610 DNA testing

13-701 Sentence of imprisonment for felony; presentence report; aggravating and 
mitigating factors; consecutive terms of imprisonment; definition

13-702 First time felony offenders; sentencing; definition

13-705 Dangerous crimes against children; sentences; definitions

13-712 Calculation of terms of imprisonment

13-801 Fines for felonies

The Careccias' bodies were found July 2 in a 6-foot grave next to Valenzuela's 
home on Papago Road in an unincorporated area south of Maricopa. They had been 
reported missing June 22. Both had been shot, according to PCSO.

Valenzuela was allegedly on methamphetamine at the time of the crime.

The grand jury indictment came down July 8.

(source: maricopa.com)






USA:

Judge finalizes jury instructions in Aurora theater shooting trial----Day 48 of 
the Aurora theater shooting trial


Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the Aurora movie theater shooting trial 
argued over the final details of jury instructions Monday, 1 day before closing 
arguments in the nearly 3-month-long trial.

Jurors are expected to get the case late Tuesday afternoon, after a combined 
four hours of closing arguments by both sides and a reading of the instructions 
by Judge Carlos Samour Jr. The instructions provide jurors with a road map to 
the law they must interpret when deciding whether James Holmes was sane when he 
killed 12 people and wounded 70 more inside the Century Aurora 16 theater in 
July 2012. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

For about three hours Monday, the attorneys and Samour debated minute changes 
to the language of the instructions that could have a big impact on how jurors 
view the case. In one instance, they haggled over whether a statement about 
Holmes' thoughts that killing people would increase his self worth should read 
"a delusional belief," "delusional beliefs," or "his delusional beliefs." 
Samour ultimately settled on the last of the 3 choices.

Jurors must decide Holmes' guilt on 165 separate charges involving murder, 
attempted murder and explosives possession.

(source: The Denver Post)

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

Boston bomber lawyer calls death penalty 'barbaric'


Just weeks after her client received the death penalty in the Boston Marathon 
bomber trial, San Diego defense attorney Judy Clarke told a roomful of federal 
judges Monday that capital punishment is "barbaric" and should be wiped off the 
books in the United States.

The remarks came as Clarke accepted the John Frank Award during the U.S. 9th 
Circuit Judicial Conference being held this week in downtown San Diego. She is 
being honored for her lifetime of service to the courts and criminal justice, 
and was ushered to the stage with a standing ovation.

Clarke is known for defending some of the nation's most notorious criminals, 
from Unabomber Ted Kaczynski to Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph to Tucson mass 
shooter Jared Loughner.

A steadfast opponent of capital punishment, Clarke was able to keep those 
clients off death row. Not so for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

"For the last 20 years, I have come face to face with the machinery of death," 
Clarke said. "And that experience has caused me to hope that in my lifetime, or 
certainly in the lifetime of the youngster I just finished defending at a trial 
in Boston, that the remaining 31 states in this country will wipe the death 
penalty off its books.

"Or that Congress or the United States Supreme Court can begin to see the death 
penalty as I have learned it up close and personal - arbitrary, barbaric and an 
international embarrassment - and remove it from our lives," she said.

Clarke, who began her legal career in San Diego as a federal defender in 1978, 
has assisted attorneys in capital cases in trials around the country for 
several years.

Rosanna Malouf Peterson, a district judge in eastern Washington, lauded 
Clarke???s ability to separate the individuals she represents from their labels 
and their actions.

"Because of her work representing other people's constitutional rights, she 
subjects herself to the public scorn, receives their anger, their threats, from 
a public who cannot separate the attorney representing constitutional rights 
from the client committing the crimes," Peterson said.

Clarke called the award "a very warm welcome home."

(source: San Diego Union Tribune)