[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ILL., NEB., COLO., WYO., CALIF., USA
Rick Halperin
rhalperi at smu.edu
Thu Jun 25 09:32:14 CDT 2015
June 25
ILLINOIS:
'Murder in the Park' doc re-examines Chicago death row case
MOVIE REVIEW
A Murder in the Park
Running time: 91 minutes. Rated PG-13 (disturbing content).
It was the stunning case that resulted in Illinois abolishing the death
penalty: In 1999, four Northwestern University investigative journalism
students and their professor, David Protess, exonerated a Chicago man on death
row who, they concluded, was innocent. Anthony Porter was freed, and another
man eventually confessed. That is not the end of the story, as it turns out,
and "A Murder in the Park" explores the aftermath - and the question of whether
Porter was actually the guilty party all along.
True-crime TV vets Christopher Rech and Brandon Kimber interviewed cops,
lawyers, witnesses who recanted and the 2 central men themselves - Porter
(minimally) and Alstory Simon, who has since also been freed, claiming his
confession was coerced by Protess' legal henchmen. Cheesy reenactments and
ham-fisted musical cues make this feel more like a TV episode than a film, and
a 1-sided one at that. But the facts (including Protess' eventual resignation)
still make this a worthwhile examination of a narrative that actually may have
been too good to be true.
(source: New York Post)
NEBRASKA:
The Police Officers' Association of Nebraska Shows Support for Death Penalty
In late May, Nebraska legislature abolished the death penalty. But many
Nebraskans were not happy about it and decided to voice their opinions in a
petition drive. And now the police officers association of Nebraska is publicly
showing support for the petition drive by the Nebraskans for the death penalty.
The Police Officers' Association of Nebraska represents law enforcement around
the entire state, and now the association publicly supports the petition drive
to bring an appeal vote on the abolishment of the death penalty to a ballot for
next year's general election.
It is law enforcement's job to protect the people, and uphold all of the laws
whether it is their personal beliefs or not. But President of the Police
Officers Association of Nebraska, Lt. Rich Hoaglund, said he believes the death
penalty in Nebraska would make the state a safer place.
"We feel that there is a potential that the death penalty is not only
beneficial to our prosecution, but also to the well being of correctional
employees and the inmates, and also the general public of the state of
Nebraska," Lt. Hoaglund said.
Hoaglund said he has personally been part of law enforcement for nearly 40
years and he has seen some of the heinous offenses that do take place, and he
believes there is probably a need for an ultimate sentence. The next step for
the appeal of the abolishment is to just keep getting signatures.
(source: KNOP news)
COLORADO:
Colorado judicial agencies take different tact on death penalty cost records
The Colorado public defender's office declined to provide defense costs of the
death penalty trial for Aurora theater shooting defendant James Holmes, citing
client confidentiality, but a different Colorado Judicial Branch agency
provided some information for another high-profile death penalty case.
State Rep. Polly Lawrence, R-Littleton, said the legislature should step in to
require the judicial branch to abide by state records laws.
Lawrence wasn't surprised when Watchdog.org told her that 2 offices in the same
agency provided very different responses to records requests.
"I think it just shows a difference of interpretation of how far the
attorney-client privilege goes," Lawrence said, noting the Colorado Attorney
General's office provides the costs of its cases. "Departments using tax money
should be transparent on how they use the money."
OADC, which takes criminal cases when the public defender's attorneys determine
they have a conflict of interest, provided the costs of the Nathan Dunlap
defense at $1,077,868. The response to a Watchdog.org records request did not
break down the specific spending.
Dunlap was convicted of killing 4 people at a pizza restaurant in 1993 and
would have been executed except Gov. John Hickenlooper decided to stay the
sentence as long he is in office. In April, Watchdog.org reported how private
attorneys hired for Dunlap's federal appeal are still charging taxpayers
hundreds of thousands of dollars despite the stay.
OADC said the office spent no money defending Holmes. The public defender's
office is handling that case, which is currently being heard by an Arapahoe
County jury.
In contrast to the OADC response, the public defender's office in May declined
to provide any information on the costs of the Holmes case. In denying
Watchdog.org's request for records, general counsel Frances Smylie Brown cited
Colorado Court rules that protect client privacy and parts of a judicial
directive that allows the denial of administrative records.
"The costs and expenses associated with the defense of James Holmes' records,
to the extent they are maintained by our agency, are part of a client's case
file and thus this agency cannot produce them for inspection," Brown wrote in
May.
Brown, who noted they're not claiming attorney-privilege despite the rule she
cited titled "client-lawyer relationship," declined to comment on why one
judicial agency provided information while her office cited privacy concerns.
"If you need information regarding Ms. (OADC director Lindy) Frolich's reasons
for releasing the costs and expenses information in the Nathan Dunlap case, you
will need to contact her," Brown wrote.
Frolich did not respond to requests for comment about their conflicting
application of the client privacy rules.
The 18th Judicial District Attorney's office, which prosecuted both Dunlap and
Holmes, declined comment for this story, citing a gag order. The office's
website details the amount of tax money spent on prosecuting Holmes. The
website explains salaries, a $1.5 million federal grant for additional staff
and victim advocates and about $800,000 in state tax money for experts,
incidentals and travel that is budgeted for the Holmes case.
Chief Public Defender Doug Wilson's office refuse to provide any information on
the costs of the James Holmes defense.
3 years after the courts exempted themselves from CORA, Supreme Court Chief
Justice Nancy Rice signed a directive in May, setting rules for how the
department will handle administrative records requests.
Lawrence said the directive leaves too much room for judicial officials to deny
records.
"I still don't think it goes far enough," Lawrence said. "It leaves the
decision to the administrator of the records."
Lawrence and Rep. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, tried to push through House Bill-15
1101 last year that would have forced the 2 state criminal defense agencies to
abide by state open records laws.
Despite bipartisan sponsorship, the measure failed after House Judiciary
Committee Democrats charged the bill would only impact poor people and not the
rest of the judicial department.
2 lawmakers, Rep. Tim Dore, R-Elizabeth, and Sen. David Balmer, R-Centennial,
have promised to introduce legislation next year that will require the whole
judicial branch to abide by CORA.
Lawrence said she will also push for more transparency for the judicial
department next year.
"I think it still needs legislative oversight and clarification of some of the
rules," Lawrence said of the judicial branch. "I think the more transparency we
can have in every department of the state, the better. But it seems one branch
still likes to write its own rules and implement its own policies."
(source: watchdog.org)
WYOMING:
'Not guilty' pleas entered: Sister's felony charge has possibility of death
penalty
The sound of a metal detector beeped intermittently as people entered the Park
County District Courtroom on Tuesday morning.
The security measure was put in place before defendant Sandra Garcia, 27,
appeared for her arraignment hearing in front of Judge Steve Cranfill.
"Miss Garcia, good morning," Cranfill said and immediately told her the purpose
of the arraignment was to explain the charges against her.
Garcia is charged with agreeing with 1 or more persons to commit a crime to
purposely kill a human being, Juan Antonio Guerra-Torres.
She is also charged with aiding and abetting in the commission of a felony to
kill Guerra-Torres.
Cranfill told the defendant she had the options of pleading guilty, not guilty,
not guilty due to mental illness or nolo contendere. The felony has the
possibility of the death penalty, Cranfill said.
Chief Trial Counsel Kerri Johnson, Garcia's public defender, said her client
would plead not guilty on all counts.
Park County Attorney Bryan Skoric asked that Garcia be held without bond.
Johnson said the defense council needed a time frame for the court and counsel
to know if it's a death case.
"That's a fair question," Skoric said. "The case is still under investigation.
The state asks for 60 days to make the declaration."
With that, Cranfill adjourned the hearing.
The 2 charges are the same ones her brother Pedro Garcia, 28, was charged with
on Monday during his arraignment hearing.
The crime allegedly occurred between Dec. 15, 2013, and Jan. 8, 2014, near
Little Sand Coulee Road east of Clark.
The sister and brother face the charges along with John Louis Marquez, 51.
Guerra-Torres' headless body was discovered on Jan. 9, 2014. His right hand and
left arm to his shoulder had been removed.
Hunters discovered the body on BLM Road 10 near Clark. Identification wasn't
made until May 14, 2014.
Sandra Garcia and Guerra-Torres are the parents of 4 children.
After her arraignment, Garcia returned to Park County Law Enforcement Center
where she remains incarcerated.
(source: Cody Enterprise)
CALIFORNIA:
Judge orders unsealing of search warrants in McStay family murder case
The district attorney will decide by July 10 whether or not it will seek the
death penalty against Charles "Chase" Merritt in court on Wednesday at San
Bernardino Superior Court. Merritt is charged in the murders of the McStay
family.
More than 30 search warrants served during the San Bernardino County Sheriff's
Department's investigation into the beating deaths of a San Diego County family
whose skeletal remains were discovered in 2 shallow graves near Victorville
were ordered unsealed Wednesday by a Superior Court judge.
During an arraignment for defendant Charles "Chase" Merritt, San Bernardino
Superior Court Judge Michael A. Smith entered a not guilty plea on Merritt's
behalf and ordered 33 of the 35 search warrants in the case be redacted and
made available to the public on July 1.
The information contained in the search warrants may reveal more of the
evidence gathered in the case that was not introduced during Merritt's
preliminary hearing on June 15.
Merritt, 58, of Homeland, could face the death penalty if convicted.
Prosecutor Sean Daugherty told Smith during Wednesday's proceedings he will
announce by July 10 whether the death penalty will be sought against Merritt.
Merritt stands charged with 4 counts of murder for the deaths of Joseph McStay,
40, his wife, Summer, 43, and their 2 sons, Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3, in
their Fallbrook home, on or around Feb. 4, 2010.
Prosecutors believe Merritt acted alone, beating the family to death with a
3-pound sledgehammer and burying their bodies in 2 shallow graves, west of the
15 Freeway and north of Stoddard Wells Road, on the outskirts of Victorville.
The family's partially unearthed skeletal remains were discovered by a man
riding his dirtbike in the area in November 2013.
Prosecutors allege Merritt was driven by greed to commit the brutal killings,
and presented evidence during Merritt's preliminary hearing that he wrote tens
of thousands of dollars worth of checks on Joseph McStay's electronic business
account, deleted the checks from the Quickbooks accounting software McStay
used, then cashed most of the checks in the week following the McStay family's
disappearance on Feb. 4, 2010.
Merritt's attorney, Jimmy Mettias, wants certain information in the warrants
redacted because he believes the information is prejudicial to Merritt and can
potentially taint the jury pool.
"What's happened in this case is that it's caused a lot of people to already
convict Mr. Merritt in their minds," Mettias said following Wednesday's
proceedings.
Attorney Kelly Aviles, who is representing several news organizations that have
been fighting to unseal the warrants since Merritt's arrest in November, said
all the warrants should be released in their entirety, without redactions. She
will continue to push for that, plus the unsealing of 2 other warrants
prosecutors are fighting to keep sealed, during the next hearing before Judge
Smith on July 10.
Aviles disputed Mettias' argument that some information in the search warrants
hurts Merritt's chances of a fair trial.
"I can't imagine that this information can be any more prejudicial than the
allegation this man has murdered 4 people with a sledgehammer and then buried
them in the desert. That's fairly prejudicial," Aviles said.
She said prosecutors want to keep 2 of the warrants sealed because of
information in them relating to child protective services issues pertaining to
3rd parties not germane to the case.
Smith on Wednesday also set a trial date of Aug. 10 and a pretrial date of Aug.
(source: San Bernardino Sun)
*********************
McStay case penalty decision due in July----Prosecutors to decide whether to
seek death in slayings of Fallbrook family
Prosecutors will decide by July 10 whether to seek the death penalty in the
trial of a man accused of killing the McStay family of Fallbrook, a court
spokeswoman said after a hearing in the case Wednesday morning.
During the proceedings, which lasted less than an hour, San Bernardino Superior
Court Judge Michael Smith set an Aug. 10 trial date for Charles "Chase"
Merritt, who has been charged with 4 counts of 1st-degree murder in the beating
deaths of Joseph McStay, 40, his wife, Summer, 43, and their 2 sons, Gianni, 4
and Joseph Jr., 3.
San Bernardino County prosecutors also told Smith during the hearing that they
would let him know by July 10 if they plan to seek execution should Merritt be
convicted.
Merritt, 58, was in court to be re-arraigned on the murder charges. The McStay
family disappeared from their Avocado Vista Lane home in February 2010 and
their bodies were found in shallow desert graves outside of Victorville, in San
Bernardino County, in November 2013.
Merritt was living in the Riverside County community of Homeland when he was
arrested a year later. He has pleaded not guilty, and remains jailed without
bail.
At the end of a preliminary hearing last week, Smith found that prosecutors had
provided enough evidence for him to order Merritt to trial.
According to a court spokeswoman, Smith ordered the release of all but 2 search
warrants served during the investigation. The redacted documents, more than 30
search warrants, which could provide more detail about evidence investigators
gathered in the case, are set for release July 1.
Media organizations, including the San Diego Union-Tribune, have been arguing
for the release of the documents.
When he disappeared, Joseph McStay owned a business that supplied interior
water fountains, and often hired Merritt to create custom pieces.
(source: Union-Tribune)
USA:
Tsarnaev Joins A Death Row With Many Members, And Few Executions
Now that he's been formally sentenced to death, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar
Tsarnaev will soon become a resident of federal death row, joining 61 other
killers who've been condemned to die by lethal injection at the U.S.
Penitentiary in Terra Haute, Indiana.
There he will wait - likely for a very long time.
Just how long depends on a range of factors, mainly the strength of his legal
appeals. But it's safe to assume that, provided the appeals fail, it will be
several years before he is put to death.
Despite the name, there isn't much death on death row.
Boston Marathon bomber DhzhokharTsarnaev listens in court during his sentencing
hearing on June 24.
Since the federal government reinstated the death penalty in 1988, 75 inmates
have ended up on death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
10 have been removed, and only 3 have been executed.
The last man to die there was Louis Jones Jr., in 2003, 8 years after he was
sentenced for murdering a U.S. soldier. The other 2, marijuana kingpin Juan
Raul Garza and Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, waited 8 years and 4
years, respectively, for their executions.
Louis Jones Jr., left, was executed at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute,
Indiana, in 2003. Juan Raul Garza, center, and Timothy McVeigh were executed at
the penitentiary in 2001.
That leaves 61 men and 1 woman still on federal death row, including 2 people
whose original conviction or sentence has been reversed but their legal fate
has not yet been finalized.
Tsarnaev, 21, is the youngest.
He'll join a cast of violent men at Terra Haute - the 1 woman on death row,
Lisa Montgomery, who killed a pregnant woman and cut her unborn baby out of her
womb, is serving her remaining days in the Federal Medical Center Carswell in
Fort Worth, Texas.
The 1988 resumption of the death penalty followed a 16-year suspension
triggered by a 1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision that voided dozens of existing
death penalty statutes. Prior to that decision, 34 people were executed on
federal death row, dating back to 1927.
The longest current residents of death row are Corey Johnson, James Roane Jr.
and Richard Tipton, fellow gang members who were sentenced to execution in 1993
for 9 murders committed to protect their crack dealing operation.
The newest - before Tsarnaev - is Thomas Sanders, who was sentenced to death in
September for kidnapping and killing a 12-year-old girl. (source: NBC News)
***************
Indiana University Legal Expert Available to Comment on Upcoming Supreme Court
Death Penalty Decision
Following botched executions in Oklahoma, Ohio and Arizona, death-row inmates
in Oklahoma are challenging that state's method of administering the death
penalty: lethal injection using a series of three drugs in succession. The case
is Glossip v. Gross.
Maurer School of Law professor Jody Madeira, whose research includes the
intersection of law and emotion in criminal and family law, said authorities
are eager for clearer guidance on whether certain methods of administering the
death penalty violate the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
She said a ruling in the case could be especially helpful if it clarifies a key
element of a 2008 court decision on lethal injection: whether inmates who
challenge the method of execution must point to an alternative drug that would
do the job more effectively or with less pain.
"Courts have told states to select more effective lethal injection procedures
but given them no guidance on how to do that," Madeira said. "And because
markets for execution drugs have shut down 1 by 1, this creates the ideal
conditions for organizational experimentation and mistake. So the Supreme Court
could potentially provide needed guidance on this very complex and ethically
problematic issue. Even a narrow ruling would be helpful guidance."
Madeira, professor of law and Louis F. Niezer Faculty Fellow in the Maurer
School of Law, is the author of the book "Killing McVeigh: The Death Penalty
and the Myth of Closure" and has written widely on responses of victims'
families to the death penalty.
(source: newswise.com)
*******************
Boston bomber apologises, gets death penalty----Tsarnaev sorry for attacks in
which 3 died, 264 were injured and 17 lost limbs
Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev yesterday apologised in court for the 1st time
to his victims for the suffering he caused, moments before being formally
sentenced to death by a federal judge.
The US citizen of Chechen descent was sentenced to death on 6 counts over the
2013 bombings, one of the worst assaults on US soil since the September 11,
2001 attacks.
"I would like to now apologize to the victims and to the survivors," said the
21-year-old former university student in his 1st public remarks since the April
15, 2013 bombings that killed 3 people.
"I am guilty," he said, standing pale and thin in a dark blazer. "Let there be
no doubt about that."
Tsarnaev said he listened throughout the 12-week trial as he learnt about the
victims from often harrowing testimony. "I am sorry for the lives I have taken,
for the suffering, the damage that I have done," he said.
Judge George O'Toole officially imposed the death sentence, which had been
reached unanimously by the 12-person jury on May 15. "I sentence you to the
penalty of death by execution," O'Toole told Tsarnaev, before he was led away.
Throughout the trial the man who came to the United States as a child and took
citizenship in 2012, sat in silence, at times fidgeting but expressing little
emotion. Yesterday, more than 20 victims and their relatives addressed the
court, making harrowing impact statements summing up their grief, pain, anger
and at times forgiveness.
"The choices you made were despicable," said Patricia Campbell, addressing
Tsarnaev directly as he bowed his head.
"What you did to my daughter was disgusting. The jury did the right thing."
Bill Richard, the father of the youngest victim, 8-year-old Martin, said he
would have preferred Tsarnaev receive a life sentence but said the attacks were
"all on him."
Tsarnaev, Richard said, could have stopped his brother, changed his mind and
"walked away with a minimal sense of humanity."
Defence lawyer Judy Clarke told the court that Tsarnaev had offered to plead
guilty last year, but yesterday's remarks were the 1st time that her client had
expressed any public remorse.
The bombings wounded 264 people, including 17 who lost limbs, near the finish
line at the north-eastern city's popular marathon.
(source: Gulf News)
***************
Judge denies Tsarnaev lawyer's request for execution in NH----Execution to be
carried out in Indiana
The request to move Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's execution to New Hampshire, the only
New England state with the death penalty, surprised many people on Wednesday.
A federal judge formally sentenced Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to
death for the 2013 terror attacks on Wednesday.
The idea expressed in court on Wednesday was that it would be easier for
victims to be on hand for the execution if it was carried it out in the Granite
State.
The judge quickly ruled that out, instead ordering Tsarnaev to be put to death
in Terre Haute, Indiana. The U.S. government has only executed three people
there since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated.
State officials said that it is a much more complex question than just deciding
to do it because it's legal in New Hampshire.
"The state law regarding the death penalty in New Hampshire is very clear as to
how the death penalty is carried out in New Hampshire for state-sentenced
inmates, but you're entering a gray area if federal courts wish to have it
occur in a state in which he was not convicted," said Jeff Lyons of the New
Hampshire Department of Corrections.
While the death penalty is legal in New Hampshire, the state has not carried
out an execution in almost 80 years.
Also, there is no death chamber or existing facility for executions at the
state prison.
(source: WMUR news)
*******************
What it's like inside the terrifying super-max prison where the Boston Bomber
will be executed
Judge George O'Toole confirmed in court Wednesday that Boston bomber Dzhokhar
Tsarnaev will face his death sentence at the US penitentiary in Terre Haute,
Indiana, though a lengthy appeals process will likely precede his execution.
Terre Haute is a high-security prison complex consisting of a maximum-security
penitentiary, a medium-security federal correctional institute, and a
low-security camp. The maximum-security facility houses federal death-row
inmates.
The last federal execution, of Gulf War veteran and murderer/rapist Louis Jones
Jr, was conducted at Terre Haute in 2003.
Because Tsarnaev is on death row, he would likely be held in the Special
Confinement Unit, a special unit for death row inmates. In the past, it has
housed as many as 21 inmates at a time.
The ACLU accused the penitentiary of having "grossly inadequate" conditions at
the Special Confinement Unit in 2008, saying that those on death row were
routinely denied basic medical care, mental health services, and were subject
to incessant noise that causes sleep deprivation.
Sister Rita Clare Gerardot, who has been a spiritual adviser to death-row
inmates at Terre Haute, once described the experience of death row inmates at
the facility:
"They are in a small cell by themselves. All their meals are pushed through a
slot. There is no recreation, but they can go out of their cells three times a
week into cages," Gerardot told The Tribune-Star, a newspaper in Terre Haute.
Inmates can speak to one another from the front of their cells, according to
Gerardot, and have limited time to use a phone, e-mail, or a library.
"Truthfully, I don't know how they keep their sanity. They have to be persons
of great strength of will to get up every day, and know they have no choices,"
Gerardot said.
The facility also houses a special unit opened in 2006 for terrorism-related
offenses called the Communications Management Units (CMU).
Because of the CMU's reputation for housing some of the country's biggest
security threats, some have called Terre Haute "Guantanamo North."
According to NPR, the units have 50 cells and house many men convicted in
notable post-9/11 cases, as well as those involved in the 1993 World Trade
Center bombing, the 1999 "Millennium" plot to bomb the Los Angeles
International Airport, and multiple hijacking cases.
High-profile inmates at Terre Haute include John Walker Lindh, known as the
"American Taliban," and Somali pirate Abdulwali Abdukhad Muse, whose hijacking
was dramatized in the film "Captain Phillips."
The Communication Management Units in the prison severely restrict
communications between inmates and the outside world. Inmates are limited to
two two-hour nonphysical visits per month, plus one 15-minute phone call per
week.
Mail must be screened, copied, and evaluated before being delivered to inmates.
All conversations must be in English.
Though 74 people have been sentenced to death in federal cases since the 1988
reinstatement of the federal death penalty, 3 people have been executed.
The Boston Globe put together the details of how Tsarnaev would likely be
executed. Here are some of the details from the Bureau of Prisons' "Execution
Protocol":
Location: Executions are performed at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute,
Indiana. A judge may choose to relocate the execution to a state where the
death penalty is legal if that would be more convenient for victims and family
members to access.
Last meal: Between 3 and 12 hours before death, those condemned to die receive
a last meal of their choosing, cooked by prison staff. Alcohol is not allowed.
Clothing: The condemned individual is dressed in khaki pants, a white T-shirt,
white socks, and slip-on shoes.
Method of execution: Lethal injection is the only approved method of execution
for the federal government. Other options could be considered in the Justice
Department's review.
Witnesses: Up to 8 victims or victim's family members can watch the execution.
The condemned individual can choose 1 spiritual advisor, 2 attorneys, and 3
family or friends to be present. They are located outside the execution room
and can watch through a window.
Media: 10 members of the media are allowed to watch the final moments through a
window. There are no cameras or recording devices allowed in the building.
Last words: The prisoner set to be executed is allowed to give a "reasonably
brief" final statement. Those are then transcribed and given to media members.
The signal: The U.S. marshal says "We are ready." The executioner delivers the
lethal drugs.
Time of death: The exact time of death is recorded, and takes place in the
early morning. Jones was executed at 7:08 a.m., McVeigh at 7:14 a.m., and Garza
at 7:09 a.m.
Responsibility for remains: The death row inmate is allowed to designate a
person to handle disposing their body after death.
(source: businessinsider.in)
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